Małe firmy · 11/08/2008

HUBZone Program

In June 2008, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its findings on the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Program. One of GAO's findings is that the SBA does not assess the Program's economic impact. The GAO noted the importance of this given that the HUBZone Program is primarily defined by economic factors (household income, unemployment rate, and poverty rate). On June 6, 2008, the SBA responded to GAO's findings, and provided several steps to address them. One of these steps is to develop a methodology for assessing the Program's economic impact. This paper outlines the anticipated methodology for this assessment. The paper will provide a brief description of the different methodological options currently available for undertaking an impact assessment. It will then provide a basic description of the HUBZone Program. Finally, it will detail the specific methodology chosen for measuring the Program's economic impact. The complexity of assessing the Program's economic impact lies in that there are multiple government agencies using three relevant procurement mechanisms, and five classes of HUBZones. In addition,