Book Description

The Small Bus. Admin.'s (SBA) Historically Underutilized Bus. Zone (HUBZone) program provides fed. contracting assistance to small firms located in economically distressed areas, in order to stimulate economic dev¿t. In July 2008, substantial vulnerabilities were identified in SBA's application and monitoring process that demonstrated the HUBZone program is vulnerable to fraud and abuse. Also, 10 HUBZone firms in the Wash., D.C., area misrepresented their eligibility. This report determines: (1) whether additional cases of fraud and abuse exist outside of the Wash., D.C., area; (2) what actions, if any, SBA has taken to establish an effective fraud prevention program for the HUBZone program; and (3) what actions, if any, SBA took against the 10 firms. Illus.