Small businesses in West Virginia may soon have access to more federal financial assistance.
Governor Jim Justice is petitioning to add Boone, Clay, Hampshire, Monroe, and Preston counties to the state roster as governor-designated HUBZones.
“Small businesses in our great state deserve a fighting chance to demonstrate West Virginia’s competitive advantage to the nation,” Justice said. “We stand ready to compete for federal contract opportunities so that through our continued effort and dedication, we can help revitalize our local communities.”
The Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) federal program gives participating small businesses access to exclusive federal contract opportunities and preferential pricing valuations when bidding for federal-wide contracts. provide.
If approved, SMEs will be able to access previously excluded or competitively disadvantaged markets.
The Justice designation is in addition to existing West Virginia HUBZones, where businesses already bring federal funds to the state. In 2020, a West Virginia small business signed a deal for his $48 million worth of goods and services
West Virginia Secretary of Commerce James Bailey said 59 small businesses will be using these by 2022.
“They got almost $100 million in federal contracts,” Bailey said. “What the governor has done here is to significantly expand the areas in which small businesses can qualify for this program.”
Bailey said this is not a one-time event each year.
“We’re going to be able to review the areas across the state that qualify for these designations and do the analysis so we can see how we can continue to expand it,” Bailey said. It’s an area that needs to meet statistics.It’s not just the place of business, employees have to live there.”
Bailey said the HUBZone program offers businesses a great opportunity to not only increase revenue and diversify their income streams, but also continue to drive economic growth and job creation in the region.