Individuals and small business owners who did not get the opportunity to attend the U.S. Small Business Administration’s HUBZone Boot Camp on Aug. 5 at Northshore Technical Community College don’t need to fret.

It appears there will be plenty more opportunities.

“The HUBZone Boot Camp went very well. We had 22 attendees, and they were very engaged and asked a lot of questions,” Jo Lawrence, the Small Business Administration’s lead business opportunity specialist, said. “We’re very interested in coming back. We’re looking forward to working with the Bogalusa Chamber of Commerce and also with our Small Business Development Center at Southeastern Louisiana. I am looking forward to coming up one day a month to meet with small business owners and those interested in starting a business.”

HUBZone is an acronym for Historically Underutilized Business Zones.

“We provided people with information on doing business with the federal government and HUBZone,” Lawrence said. “Under the federal program, there is a 3 percent goal to award contracts to HUBZone-certified clients. My purpose at being at the event was to educate the people on that program and give them the tools they need to certify for that program.”

Lawrence said there are only two companies in the area that are certified as HUBZones. The companies are Bama Co., a construction firm on Louisiana Highway 62 in Angie, and Allied Materials and Equipment in Bogalusa.

Allied manufactures U.S. flags that are shipped throughout the country.

Lawrence can be contracted at 504-589-6688 or by email at jo.lawrence3@sba.gov.