Southern Gear, a veteran-owned small business specializing in the manufacture of precision gears, is pleased to announce its certification as a Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) business by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA).

With HUBZone certification, Southern Gear is now eligible to compete for the program’s set-aside contracts and receive a 10 percent price evaluation preference in full and open contract competitions. The SBA offers HUBZone certification to businesses operating in historically underutilized business zones, with a goal of awarding at least 3 percent of all federal contracting dollars to HUBZone-certified small businesses each year.

Certification requires that at least 35% of the company’s employees live in a HUBzone—an important indicator of Southern Gear’s commitment to providing employment opportunities for employees from these underserved workforce areas to employment on federal projects. 

“Our customers, many of whom are leaders in the aerospace, military, and defense industries, consider HUBzone a key criterion in their vendor selection process,” says Southern Gear President Karen Malin. “This certification is just another way in which we’re meeting their requirements, while at the same time creating jobs and investing in our local community.”