(Washington, DC, August 2, 2005) — Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen announced today that the entire Virgin Islands would now be designated a HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zone).  Section 10203 of the conference report on reauthorizing Federal Highway and Transit programs designates all “Difficult Development Areas” (DDAs) in the territories as HUBZones.  Based on HUD regulations published in 2004, all three islands of the US Virgin Islands are DDAs. Previous to this change, St. Croix was the only area with HUDZone designated areas. The HUBZone program provides federal contracting opportunities for qualified small businesses located in distressed areas. The HUBZone program was enacted into law as part of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 and falls under the auspices of the US Small Business Administration.  

Earlier this year, Delegate Christensen co-sponsored legislation (H.R. 1148) introduced by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo (Guam, Delegate) to amend the Small Business Act to designate Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands HUBZones.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for further economic development in the territory and for small businesses seeking to obtain federal contracting opportunities” the Delegate said.   “My initial plan was to expand the HUBZone designation for the territories through reauthorization of the Small Business Act, but the transportation bill provided an opportune vehicle to have it done.  Because of the size of the smaller U.S. Territories, it makes practical sense to have all the entire designated as HUB Zones,” Christensen elaborated. 

The Delegate will hold meetings to explain how this program can be used as an excellent economic opportunity and job creation tool.