Nydia M. Velazquez: “Hurricane Katrina forced evacuation of individuals and business owners who are only recently recovering and rebuilding.…”

“Hurricane Katrina forced evacuation of individuals and business owners who are only recently recovering and rebuilding. Clearly, through no fault of their own, these firms have been disrupted. A number of these businesses are participants in the SBA's 8(a) program, the primary way that minority entrepreneurs enter the Federal marketplace. 8(a) is a business development initiative, and that is what the companies in the gulf region need right now. Because of the magnitude of the disaster, these companies need additional time in the 8(a) program. This will counterbalance the period of inoperability these firms experienced due to Hurricane Katrina. As currently structured, the program allows businesses to participate for a limited length of time. They are given 9 years and 9 years only. Even if the companies fail, they can never reapply and get back in. In this way 8(a) is different than any other SBA procurement initiative, which allow companies to be certified for increments of 3 years. It is because of this limitation that the 8(a) program is simply not structured to respond to companies that have been victimized by disasters.”