LoanWise Achieves Federal HUBZone Certification

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. --  LoanWise announced today that it has achieved Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) certification through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The HUBZone program helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to Federal procurement opportunities. The program was enacted into law as part of the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997.

Due to Federal programs encouraging small business utilization and HUBZone participation in procurements, LoanWise is just one of many HUBZone-certified small businesses with the capacity to collect Federal student loans.  There are currently thirty-two (32) small businesses listed at www.sam.gov as HUBZone-certified under the NAICS code for debt collection (561440).

The largest single Federal client for private collection agencies (PCAs) remains The U.S. Department of Education (ED). LoanWise has remained a subcontractor on the ED PCA contracts since 2008, performing for multiple PCAs in that time. LoanWise attributes its multiple successes as an ED subcontractor to continued top-of-the-line training, excellent employee benefits, and generous compliance and production bonuses.  The company is also certified as a woman-owned small business (WOSB). The San Diego labor market is an up-and-coming one for Federal subcontractors, and LoanWise has the capacity to add additional Federal subcontracts to its client roster.

“We are pleased that the SBA has seen fit to grant us this designation,” said Carol Patry, owner of the company, continuing, “We are anxious to provide additional employment opportunities to people in our area as we help PCAs absorb additional volumes from Federal agencies.”

LoanWise is a member of the Fed Cetera Network, a business development organization under 48 CFR 52.219-9.  As a small business, LoanWise qualifies for the SBA’s All Small Mentor Protégé Program (ASMPP).  Fed Cetera will hold a teleseminar at 11AM EST on October 4, 2018, on the ASMPP program.  Here is where you can sign up to attend. 

Federal HUBZones are designated as such based on U.S. census data when an area has statistically proven economic needs, typically within depressed urban or rural communities. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) certifies firms as HUBZone small businesses if they meet all of the eligibility requirements. For starters, the firm must be owned at least 51% by American citizens, with few exceptions.  The firm’s principal office must be located with a HUBzone, and more than 35% of the firm’s employees must live in a HUBZone. These requirements are just the beginning of establishing a business as a HUBZone-certified concern.