In late 2011, the HUBZone eligibility of thousands of firms was wiped away as a result of the 2010 decennial census, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau every 10 years, which re-designated many areas previously considered HUBZone due to changes in economic data. The impacts of the census were significant, decreasing the number of designated HUBZone organizations from over 9,200 to approximately 5,200 - over a 40% drop. HUBZone areas typically exhibit high unemployment and lower average income, which is why the U.S. Federal government has created the program. The idea is to incentivize contracting with businesses that operate and to create jobs in communities with statistically proven economic needs. To qualify for the program, 35% of an organization’s workforce must reside within the designated HUBZone area. In fiscal year 2011, the Federal government spent $9.9 billion on HUBZone businesses (roughly 2.35% of its overall contract dollars). While the number is impressive, only a third of agencies that receive an SBA procurement scorecard actually met their 3% percent HUBZone contracting goal. For agencies that are struggling to meet their goals, an exodus of decertified firms from the program can have far reaching implications. To help these agencies, the SBA has begun to conduct outreach to HUBZone areas in order to identify organizations that could potentially qualify. Indeed, this “spring and early summer, the SBA initiated a HUBZone recruitment plan at its 68 district offices nationwide and will repeat that recruitment plan next year.” The recruitment plan is designed to educated small businesses about the benefits of the program and to help them through the certification process. Additionally, a pilot program has been established during evening office hours twice a month so that HUBZone organizations can call for general assistance.

With sequestration looming just over the horizon, IT companies are competing now more than ever for contracting opportunities. The anticipated funding cuts, which are set to take place in January 2013, have many contractors panicking. As a result, we suggest the following tips: “1) Making the most of stretched 2012 opportunities; 2) Determining what’s possible under 2013 plans; and 3) finding out what carries into 2014 coupled with brand new initiatives in the upcoming 2014 budget request.” (http://washingtontechnology.com) IT contractors should also have an “understanding [of] how the internal budget plumbing works as agencies map expenditures to the spending authority granted by Congress.” Thus, it is important to not “overlook crosscutting management initiatives that can pull money from multiple program buckets, including across agencies, even under a continuing resolution.”

It appears once again that the 20/20 vision of hindsight has made its presence felt.

It is no mystery cloud migration has captured the attention of government agencies and government contractors the past several years. Agencies are required to find new innovative ways to save resources, be more efficient, and maintain security standards and are at very different stages in their development towards a mature IT portfolio and cloud environment. One of the biggest challenges facing agencies today is how to migrate legacy systems and documents to cloud infrastructure and ensure they are retrievable.

Determining how to enter the Federal government marketplace for the first time is a challenging process for any company. As such, many companies find subcontracting to a government prime contractor to be the most effective method, as well as the path of least resistance. While this method can be an excellent option for companies new to the Federal marketplace, it can also come with difficulties. One of the most common complaints among government prime subcontractors revolves around late payments.

The success of the top 50 fastest growing Federal contractors of 2012 reveals small businesses can not only compete, but also dominate a tough market. Every year Washington Technology ranks contractors by their growth, which reminds us, that success “in this market, it is also about resiliency and diversity.” According to Washington Technology in order to be considered, “companies submit five years of government contracting revenue, which is used to determine a five-year compound annual growth rate. The companies are then ranked by that rate, not by overall revenue.” Additionally, “companies must be a small business according to one of the myriad small-business categories the government uses.” [1]