GSA issues $2.5 billion HUBZone award

FedBizOpps information on HUBZone award

The General Services Administration has awarded a $2.5 billion governmentwide contract to benefit information technology vendors certified under the Small Business Administration's Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) Program.

The first-of-its-kind contract makes it easier for agencies to meet their goals of spending 3 percent of their procurement funds with HUBZone businesses, defined as small businesses based in economically disadvantaged areas.

GSA on Jan. 10 named 34 businesses nationwide to take part in the award. GSA's Small Business Solutions Development Center in Kansas City, Mo., will manage the program.

Agencies have had to meet minimum HUBZone spending goals for several years, with the percentage increasing each year, said Hope Lane, director of GSA Schedule Services for consulting firm Aronson and Co. in Rockville, Md. It hasn't always been easy for them to locate suitable vendors, however. By issuing the contract award, GSA is making it easier for agencies to meet the goal. "They can go under any of those contracts and they're credited with a HUBZone buy," she said.

The award covers IT products and services, including Internet service, e-commerce, distance learning, data warehousing, document imaging, storage-area networks, database design, Web design, business process re-engineering, system analysis, voice over IP, user support and help desk operations, contingency planning, and disaster recovery.

HUBZone businesses, under SBA's definition, must have a primary office in a HUBZone — an area with high unemployment and low average income — and at least 35 percent of its employees must live in a HUBZone.

The contract spans two years with up to three one-year options.