HUB Zone: Contracts, Jobs, and Community Empowerment
The HUB Zone empowerment Contracting Program is a "place-based" federal contracting program serving new market communities with low income or high unemployment. The program provides both federal prime contract and subcontract benefits.
With its goal of bringing job opportunities and capital investment to underutilized areas, the HUB Zone program complements the Clinton Administration's Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities Initiative. It will serve as a vital tool to empower distressed areas, build sustainable communities, and promote long-term economic development and growth.
The federal government purchases about $200 billion worth of goods and services annually. Congress has set a goal of 3 percent of the total value of all prime contracts for HUB Zone contracting opportunities, phased in over five years. The program's goal in FY 99 is 1 percent, or roughly $2 billion. The goal increases in each subsequent year to almost $6 billion in FY 2003.