The U.S. Small Business Administration has released a new Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone) map in an effort to modernize the organization’s federal contracting programs.

The SBA’s HUBZone program helps small businesses located in designated urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. The program was enacted into law as part of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 and is intended to encourage economic development in historically underutilized business zones.

To qualify for the program, a business must be a small business by SBA standards; be owned and controlled at least 51 percent by U.S. citizens, or a Community Development Corporation, an agricultural cooperative, or an Indian tribe; have its principal office located within a Historically Underutilized Business Zone, which includes lands considered “Indian Country” and military facilities closed by the Base Realignment and Closure Act; and have at least 35 percent of its employees reside in a HUBZone.

The map helps small businesses determine if they are eligible for participation in the program.  It features the latest HUBZone designations, “Qualified Disaster Areas” and other new features. The SBA has partnered with the U.S. Digital Service to deliver the map.

For more details about the program, visit www.sba.gov/hubzone.