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The Government Contracting Assistance Program is a business and technology extension program of the UNC System. Our purpose is to generate employment and improve the general economic condition of the state by assisting North Carolina companies, including those eligible for business development programs for local, state, and federal government contracts. We provide government contracting assistance by offering no-fee and confidential counseling on selling your products and/or services to the appropriate local, state or federal government agency.
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GCAP Director
252.737.1369
GCAP Counselor
Asheville / Cullowhee
828.251.6025
GCAP Counselor
Raleigh / Chapel Hill / Durham / Elizabeth City
919.513.0623
GCAP Counselor
Fayetteville / Pembroke
910.672.1359
GCAP Counselor/Events Coordinator
Hickory / Boone
828.322.5379
JACQUIE SPEARMAN
GCAP Counselor
Charlotte
704.687.0443
SUE CROTTS
GCAP Counselor
Triad
336.256.9302
JAMES CHESTNUT
GCAP Counselor
Wilmington / Greenville
910.962.3566
JARED WHITCOMB
GCAP Supply Chain Specialist
Statewide
704.351.8146
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HUBZone: The Contracting Officer's Unicorn
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James Chestnut, GCAP Counselor at UNC Wilmington
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As a former Contracting Officer (CO/KO), I was constantly working to meet the socio-economic goals of the federal agency that I was supporting. These goals were of such importance that they were listed in my yearly PMAP (Performance Management Appraisal Program). Therefore, meeting them was doubly important to me. Plus, the goals and our progress on meeting these goals were constantly reported up the chain to the Secretary's office- usually using the green, yellow, and red indicators.
The Small Business, Woman, & Veteran Owned goals often took care of themselves in the normal course of contracting, especially with a good mix of set-aside solicitations. We stayed in the green on those. Getting contractors in the 8(a) program was even less of a problem. When Program Offices learned that a CO/KO could directly award to an 8(a) they were on board 100%. Not that they were opposed to competition. But it did alleviate the burden of doing all the technical evaluation panels and write ups that even a normal set-aside competition would require. We stayed not only in the green but dark green on 8(a) contractors.
The one socio-economic designation that was always tough to get was HUBZone. It always seemed to hover in the yellow with an occasional trip into red. It was like trying to hunt unicorns. And this is even when it is one of the lowest preference goals - 3%. It was such a concern that when doing outreach if a contractor told me that they were HUBZone certified I would tell them to lead with that. It should be at the top of their capability statement, business cards, and one of the first things they tell a CO/KO when they meet with them. It would not guarantee an award, but it would definitively make them very attractive as an awardee.
So why was HUBZone so hard? A large reason was that many contracting officers do not fully understand the program. Most kind of understand that it deals with business location and employees but not more than that. So, most did not even consider HUBZone. Also, when making acquisition decisions there never seemed to be enough responsible HUBZone contractors to warrant setting aside a requirement for that program. Note: This is why I advise my clients to respond to sources sought notices with an up-to-date capability statement. This is when those set-aside determinations are being made. All there needs to be are 2 or more responsible interested parties in one program to set something aside.
To remedy some of these issues, especially the issue of not enough players, the SBA issued revised rules. The revisions are meant to make the program more attractive. They also make clear some issues and expand the scope of the program. Three of the biggest changes are:
- State Governors now can request "covered" areas be designated as HUBZones. This is done on an annual basis. To be considered a covered area the location must be recognized as "rural" by the US Census Bureau, have a population under 50,000 and unemployment levels of 120% the national or state average.
- Residence Requirement of Employees - prior to this rule revision some bad actors would play shell games during certification or recertification of their HUBZone status. They would move employees into a HUBZone only to meet the 35% requirement. After certification was achieved, the employee would return to their actual residence (not a HUBZone). Now "an employee who resided in a HUBZone for at least six months at the time of certification or recertification and continues to reside in a HUBZone for at least six months, may continue to be considered a HUBZone resident so long as the individual is employed by the firm, even if he/she moves to a non-HUBZone area, or if the area of his/her residence loses HUBZone geographical eligibility." Note: To address a question that a client recently asked me, the resident HUBZone does not have to be the same one as the business HUBZone.
- Business Location - If a business buys real property for their principal location or signs a long-term lease (10 years or more) then they still meet the HUBZone location requirement even if the location losses its HUBZone status. They must maintain all the other requirements of the HUBZone Program, and the limit is 10 years from certification or recertification. If it is leased property, it is 10 years or until the end of lease- whichever is shorter.
As you read the rule revisions you will also note that they addressed such concerns as when a HUBZone is considered eligible for award if they lose their status during the proposal process (this happens more often than you think), dealing with employees going overseas for work duties, and expanding the early engagement program with potential HUBZone contractors. Hopefully, these efforts will lead to HUBZone contractor becoming more of the norm and less a unicorn. Of course, as experience has taught me - if HUBZone contracting gets easier than the goal will go up as well.
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GCAP Shift Towards State and Local Contracting
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Scott Barker, GCAP Director
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Now that the GCAP is separated from the Defense Logistics Agency effective the beginning of April, the government contracting team is gearing up to identify and better assist those small businesses in North Carolina that are focusing on state and local government contracting opportunities. This will not preclude the GCAP team from helping businesses with their federal contracting needs, but this past month, there have been numerous outreach efforts to various agencies, organizations, and other groups here in the state with the intent of improving our level of collaboration with partners so that companies can become more competitive for the in-state contracting opportunities that exist. A new round of federal funding will be coming to the state over the coming months, and a significant portion of this will likely translate into state and municipality contracting opportunities. A window of opportunity is upon us to increase the amount of these awards going to in-state businesses.
If your company is looking to acquire a state certification or is interested in learning more about state and local contracting opportunities, please feel free to reach out to the nearest GCAP counselor for assistance. We look forward to helping.
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Opportunities Coming in 2022!
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Scott Barker, GCAP Director
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Due to the unfortunate circumstances that were caused by the COVID-19 environment, both the 2020 Opportunities and 2021 Marketplace government contracting events had to be cancelled. These conferences have been the cornerstone government contracting events for the SBTDC for many years. Good news! The next Opportunities event is tentatively being scheduled for early spring of 2022 in Asheville. We hope to have this date identified for the June newsletter and look forward to seeing everyone in person once again in about nine or ten months.
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James Chestnut, GCAP Counselor at UNC Wilmington
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This client originally started the business in 2005. They were operating as Carrollwood, Inc. which owned a vineyard, RV park, and a Bed & Breakfast. From this they added an additional business known as Carroll Communications, an IT hardware supplier. They already were established as VOSB and HUBZone entity but wanted assistance in moving into the government contracting arena as most of their business was commercial at that time.
Starting in 2016, working with the then PTAC counselor they established a Mentor/Protégé relationship with General Dynamics. This allowed them to get into government contracting and establish that all important past performance portfolio. They were initially interested in GSA contracts but that was put on hold. Along with the M/P relationship, they had some success with awards as both a prime and subcontractor. Recently they have also added third party facilitation for the new CMMC (cyber) requirements providing consultants to companies needing assistance.
In addition to Government contracting, Carrollwood, Inc has been working with the SBTDC Import/Export advisor to establish markets overseas. In fact, Carroll Communications is becoming Carroll International.
With the establishment of foreign markets, the company is circling back around to setting up a GSA schedule contract and aggressively pursuing some other federal awards coming down the pipe via the GSA route. Since 2016 the company has improved revenues from $2 million annually to a projected $10 million for the current year.
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