Strom Center Blog

How to Grow your Business in Rural Area

Developing your small business venture to the rural area will definitely be a difficult task. However, if your business does have the potential to grow, SBA HUBZone Empowerment Contracting Program will make it happen. HubZone Certification is a specialized US Federal Government support for the small socially or economically challenged business ventures. Like HubZone there are several other types of small business development programs have been proposed by the US Federal Government. All such programs are meant to allow contractors in rural and economically impoverished areas to get favorable environment to flourish. So, if you too are looking for such federal support, take a look at the basic eligibility criteria you must meet to get qualified.

The first and foremost criterion is you have to be an American Citizen and live in USA at least at the time of application.

Secondly you must have prime involvement to the business you are applying for. It is essential to have your principle office to the area specified by the SBA HubZone authority and at least 35 percent of your total employees must must be full time HubZone resident. Any type of branch offices or satellites do not qualify for the HUBZone Certification. You can go through the HubZone official site or visit the online HubZone tutorial guidelines to get more details about the eligibility criteria.

It is advisable to get complete knowledge about the surety bonding to always stay prepared for the worst. Surety bond is also known as pay and performance bond, a type of insurance that guarantees to the Federal Government that you will pay your subcontractors and complete the entire project.

In some cases your business can be given SBA HubZone assistance in procuring your surety bonding. Detailed information and complete guidance for all such regulations are given to the HubZone official site itself. However you can still seek professional assistance at the time of HubZon Application.

Apart from all the above HubZone small business program details, HUBZone contracts are there for the successful applicants. Applicants are awarded in three distinct ways. When multiple qualified HUBZone business contractors bid for the same project, then the contract is usually awarded competitively at a fair market price. But in case only one qualified HUBZone business owners submits a bid, then there is a fair chance for that business to receive the contract at a fair price. Sometimes the HubZone contracts are awarded to the certified contractors via a full and open competition. Here the qualified HUBZone businesses owners certainly receive a preference specially if their bid is less than 10 percent higher than those of other bidders.

So, we can conclude that HUBZone Certification brings oodles of opportunities for the socially or economically disadvantaged small business owners that are hard to obtain for them otherwise. However, it always good to get detailed knowledge about the certification program before applying for the same. The entire program is free of cost but you may have to pay a certain amount in order to get their professional assistance.

Author Bio:

Steven Brownn is a professional Internet marketer. For SBA HUBZone, HubZone Certification or HubZone small business find more about visit hubzone.us.com

Crystalizing Both Method and Products – European Rural Development

A curious feature of European rural development initiatives stresses the importance not only of profit and physical gains but also the preservation on traditional ways and means. Throughout European history, rural development almost always means agricultural development. Amidst the high level of industrialization of many of the members of the European Union (EU), the importance of rural development occupy still one of the community’s top priorities. The considerably large size of population that resides in rural areas constitutes an object of concern for policy makers alongside with the question of food security and increased agricultural production.

Eileen Wang in her article explored the recent features and concerns in European rural development initiatives and provided a broad picture of recent developments. The significance of agriculture in EU has nevertheless manifested by the provision of the Community Agricultural Policy (CAP) which consumes a relatively large amount of EU budget allocation.

Agricultural states benefit on this policy in terms of financial assistance and both domestic and international aids from EU as a whole. Because of its significance furthermore, the CAP issue has been object of debates and controversy.

According to Wang, the CAP is instrumental in the evolution of rural development in Europe. Its provisions not only stress the importance of production but also the quality of life of farmers. Recently, an additional provision, the Second Pillar of the CAP was introduced in order to further enhance the utility of the CAP. This Second Pillar highlights the importance of food security, environmental concerns, and the preservation of traditions and culture of agricultural areas.

The main topic addressed by this Second Pillar pertains to the Rural Development Regulation (RDR). Such regulation provides opportunities for nations with agricultural sectors to choose from menus of devices, programs and mechanisms in their own contexts, in order to meet national agricultural and rural development priorities. This idea of a bottom-up approach is a reaction to the perceived ineffectiveness of a government-driven top-down approach considering the diversity of European states. A mandate at the Community level is seen to be inapplicable confronted with variations in the state level of EU members.

The introduction of alternative enterprises in the rural areas is yet another development says Wang. Provisions on Alternative Farm Enterprises (AFEs) contribute largely to the continuation of the farming tradition because farmers now can have additional sources of income. Interestingly enough, the idea of agri-tourism has already been exploited in Italy in their program entitled “agro-torismo.” Among others, EU has also established a non-elected local agency in states to aid agricultural programs and increase the level of awareness among farmers.

Despite these developments however, major issues still hinder the total efficiency of rural development initiatives. The preservation of tradition and culture, although remains a top priority, is still threatened by the effects of globalization. Issues related to repopulation of rural areas, loss of community identity and the rising prices of properties also adds to the loads of disadvantages that come along rural development configurations.