Larsen Urges President Obama to Help Job Creation and Economic Growth in Skagit County
Washington, DC,
August 29, 2011
Today, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) urged the President to include his proposal to protect the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program in any jobs package the White House submits to Congress. The HUBZone program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities. Skagit County is considered a HUBZone, but the county is at risk of losing that status. Larsen introduced H.R. 2131, the Protect HUBZone Act of 2011, to protect Skagit County’s status and delay changes to the HUBZone map for three years. "We need to help our small and medium-sized manufacturers grow and create good jobs for folks in the community - not deny them the critical programs that are helping local businesses hire new workers,” said Larsen. "The loss of HUBZone status would immediately hurt 34 small businesses in Skagit County that rely on this program to help grow their business and hire new workers. I introduced legislation to extend HUBZone status in Skagit County to help our local small manufacturers grow and create jobs. I urge the President to support this proposal,” he concluded. The text of the letter Larsen sent to the President is below: Dear President Obama: As your Administration moves forward with proposals to create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth I am writing to urge that you support delaying by three years any changes made to the Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) program that would force a geographic area to lose its qualification as a HUBZone. It is likely that as of October 2011 a number of geographic areas around the country, including Skagit County in my Congressional district, will lose their HUBZone status due to the release of economic data from the 2010 decennial census. During this economically challenging time with unemployment rates still much too high it is not an appropriate time to make it more difficult for small businesses to obtain federal contracts and create jobs. I have introduced legislation in the House of Representatives (H.R. 2131) to delay by three years any changes to the HUBZone map that would force an area to lose its HUBZone status. I urge the Administration to include this delay to HUBZone status for geographic areas in any jobs package that is proposed by the White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, CC: Karen G. Mills, SBA Administrator |