SECTION 20.294. Graduation Procedures

(a) Size Standards. A HUB shall graduate from being eligible for HUB certification when it has maintained gross receipts or total employment levels during four consecutive years which, including all affiliates, exceed the U.S. Small Business Administration size standards set forth in 13 CFR Part 121.

(b) Graduation. Businesses that achieve the size standards identified in subsection (a) of this section have reached a competitive status in overcoming the effects of discrimination. The comptroller shall review, as part of the certification or recertification process, the financial revenue or relevant data of a business to determine whether the size standards identified in subsection (a) of this section have been achieved. When the comptroller determines that the business exceeds the applicable size standard, the comptroller shall inform the business that it has graduated and is no longer certified as a HUB, and shall remove the business from the HUB directory.

(c) Effects of Graduation.

(1) Businesses that have graduated from the HUB program may not be included in meeting statewide or state agency HUB utilization goals after the end of last reporting period in which they held certification for at least one day.

(2) A business that has graduated or does not qualify as a HUB under this title, shall be eligible to reapply for HUB certification only after demonstrating that it meets the qualifications for HUB, including the size standards.

(3) A business is considered a successor in interest if it has acquired substantially all of the assets and liabilities of another business. The application of the successor in interest to a HUB that has graduated will be treated as a reapplication of the HUB. The successor in interest applicant must show that it meets the size standards before it is considered eligible to apply.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.294 adopted to be effective January 24, 2017, 42 TexReg 235; amended to be effective August 9, 2023, 48 TexReg 4268