Continuing Eligibility for the 

HUBZone Program: How Does 

Annual Recertification Work?

The new HUBZone regulations require all certified 

HUBZone firms to recertify annually that they remain in 

compliance with the program’s requirements as of the 

anniversary date of their certification.

Benefits of these changes include:

• Once HUBZone-certified, a firm is eligible

for all HUBZone contracts for which it

qualifies for a period of one year.

• Firms are no longer required to report

to SBA throughout the year if they have

a change in their eligibility status (with

the exception of involvement in a merger

or acquisition or if HUBZone residency

falls below 20 percent while performing

a HUBZone contract). They only have to

demonstrate compliance as of their annual

certification anniversary.

• Contracting officers no longer have to

verify a firm’s HUBZone eligibility at

the time of award, making it easier for

HUBZone small businesses. The firm

will be generally considered a HUBZone

small business throughout the life of that

contract if it was certified at the time of an

initial contract offer.

How Does 

It Work?

To complete the 

annual recertification 

process an authorized 

officer of the firm 

must complete and 

submit the firm’s 

recertification in the 

HUBZone portal in SBA 

Connect within 30 days 

of the anniversary date 

of the firm’s HUBZone 

certification.* If a firm 

fails to recertify within 

the required time frame, 

SBA will propose the firm 

for decertification. 

*If the date of a firm’s HUBZone 

certification was May 15, their 

anniversary date for subsequent years 

would be May 15, and they would have 

to submit their recertification every year 

between April 15 and June 15.
What Do I Need to Do?

Register for an SBA Connect account and request access to the HUBZone portal. View the

instructional video. In the HUBZone portal, the authorized officer will be required to review, verify, 

and certify that the firm meets all HUBZone eligibility requirements as of the anniversary date of its 

certification. To prepare for the annual recertification process, firms can: 

1

Locate the anniversary date of the firm’s HUBZone certification. The date of a firm’s 

HUBZone certification can be found in the firm’s certification letter and also on the 

firm’s profile in the Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) database. It may be 

helpful to mark this date on your calendar as an annually recurring event.

2

Verify that the firm will meet all HUBZone eligibility requirements as of the anniversary date 

of its certification. The latest HUBZone eligibility requirements can be found here.

3

Verify that the firm’s information is current in SBA’s DSBS database, including street 

address and email. All notifications from the HUBZone program will be sent to the 

email address of the point of contact listed.

• The firm’s DSBS profile consists of information received from SAM.gov and the

firm’s SBA Profile (SBA Supplemental Page).

• To make changes to the firm’s SBA Profile, register for an SBA Connect account

and request access to the DSBS database. View the instructional video.

4

Look out for a recertification notification email from SBA’s automated notification system, 

which will be sent 30 days prior to the firm’s anniversary date. 

• Please note that SBA’s automated notification system will not send a notification

more than 30 calendar days prior to the anniversary of a firm’s HUBZone

certification. If you do not receive a recertification within this timeframe,

please email the HUBZone Help Desk at hubzone@sba.gov.

The HUBZone program fuels small business growth in historically underutilized business zones 

(HUBZones) with a goal of awarding at least 3 percent of federal contract dollars to HUBZone-certified 

companies each year. In FY2020, SBA rolled out comprehensive changes to the HUBZone program that 

strengthen recertification requirements and simplify contract verification.

All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. (06/2023)