Show Up or Stay Invisible: Why HUBZone Advocacy Can’t Wait in 2026 | Michelle Burnett

Most people file HUBZone under “niche set-aside.” It was designed as an economic development engine for the communities America left behind, and it is sitting at an inflection point right now.

On this Special Episode of GovCon Unscripted, host Chelsea Roberts opens the #RoadtoHUBZone series with Michelle Burnett, Vice Chair of the HUBZone Contractors National Council, ahead of the 2026 National HUBZone Conference.

Michelle has worked with the HUBZone program since she was 20. She walks through its original intent as a place-based economic development tool, the multiplier effect it was built to create, and why its biggest challenges today are problems of execution and acquisition alignment rather than flaws in the program itself. The conversation covers the 2019 regulatory overhaul and the changes the Council fought for, what aligning the program with domestic manufacturing and reshoring could unlock, and why teaming has become a survival strategy for small firms that feel like the rug is being pulled out from under them.

It closes with a direct call: show up, advocate, and be at the table. The 2026 National HUBZone Conference runs July 21 and 22 (with a golf outing July 20) at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome and who Michelle is

01:00 The 2026 National HUBZone Conference and what is new this year

03:00 Who should come, and why large business turnout is so high

04:00 Where the program’s execution falls short

06:00 Advocacy, the FAR overhaul, and why your voice matters

09:00 The program is not broken, the execution is

10:00 The multiplier effect, a hand up rather than a handout

13:00 HUBZone On The Rise and the manufacturing consortium

17:00 How to get involved and where to find the conference

Resources:

Michelle Burnett's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-burnett-21737771/

Chelsea's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelseadroberts/

Other resources:

HUBZone Contractors National Council: https://www.hubzonecouncil.org/

2026 National HUBZone Conference (register): https://www.hubzonecouncil.org/2026-National-HUBZone-Conference

HUBZone Council LinkedIn group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/2992361/

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