In order for an employee to count as a HUBZone resident for purposes of a specific HUBZone contract, the employee must reside in an officially designated HUBZone on the contract award date.

A recent decision of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is a cautionary tale for HUBZone companies, which are responsible for ensuring that the 35% employee residency requirement is met on the award date.

The decision of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Dorado Services, Inc. v. United States, No. 16-945C (2016) involved an Air Force solicitation for municipal solid waste collection and disposal for installations at Joint Base San Antonio.  The solicitation was issued as a 100% set-aside for HUBZones.

After evaluating competitive proposals, the Air Force awarded the contract to Dorado Services, Inc. on October 29, 2015.  An unsuccessful offeror, GEO International Management, Inc., filed a HUBZone status protest with the SBA, challenging Dorado’s HUBZone eligibility.  GEO contended that Dorado could not have satisfied the HUBZone program’s employee residency requirement on the date of its offer or the date or on the October 29 award date.

Keep reading this article at: http://smallgovcon.com/hubzone-program/hubzone-program-employees-must-reside-in-hubzones-on-award-date/