What is HUBZone?
The HUBZone program is designed to provide economic assistance to economically depressed geographic areas by awarding federal contracts to small businesses that operate and employ workers in those areas. Pearl participates in this program to bring job opportunities to economically challenged areas of the country. Often there are no job opportunities in these areas creating financial hardships for residents. In the past 2 months our team has been working hard to collect all requested materials for our recertification of our HUBZone Certification. So, thank you, to all our HUBZone eligible employees for providing not only these crucial documents as fast as possible, but also to keep up with updating residence information in payroll as soon as a move has occurred.
Pearl’s HUBZone Statistics
At the point of our recertification date, we had 657 active employees and every address had to be checked on the HUBZone map site for eligibility. Once we determined that an employee was eligible, there were 288 in which we requested documentation as proof of residence. All in all, we collected 943 pages showing maps and proof of residence in our submission package.
Kat Sayre
I am Pearl’s Proposal Manager and I have worked for Pearl for 3 years. When not working on proposals or other business development projects I get to play farmer in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York (near the Canadian border) with my husband, our 2 kids, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and 3 horses.
Annually, I lead the HUBZone renewal project as the project lead. My job is to organize the team, evaluate the submission criteria, ensure the team maintains the submission schedule, and complete the final submission to the government for certification.
Birgit Fry
I have been with Pearl since August 2013, and I am currently the Executive Administrative Assistant to the VP of Operations, Brenda Wingert. Outside of work I love to travel, read, and spend time with my family and our 3 dogs Carlos, Rosita, and Oliver. Currently I live in the Daniel Boon National Forest, Kentucky, and my entire county is a HUBZone. I appreciate Pearl so much for giving people in this area, called the Eastern Coal Field Region, an opportunity for work and growth at the company.
I started getting involved in our HUBZone project from the first time we received our certification in 2019 and I am the keeper of all documents regarding HUBZone. I am also the starting point by checking addresses of every employee. Once I determine they are HUBZone qualified, I notify our Onboarding Supervisor, Demi Jackson, to mark them accordingly in our payroll system and to ask the employee to please produce a proof of residence to us. Once all the documents have been collected, I maintain all records in the event of an audit or if our recertification is due.
Terri Estes
I have been with Pearl since June 1, 2021. I am an HR Manager at the CCO contract based in Winchester KY. When I am not working, I enjoy being outdoors and traveling the country seeking new adventures. I have a cat named Denny Rogers, because Kenny Rogers was already taken. He is my pride and joy, but he is not a gambling man like his predecessor.
HUBZone re-certification allowed me the opportunity to work one-on-one with CCO employees to help obtain proper documentation. During this experience, the HUBZone team was able to overcome a multitude of obstacles. It truly was a lesson in understanding and developing a deeper appreciation of how HUBZone helps benefit us as a company. I am glad to have been a part of this process and enjoyed each challenge it presented.
Jared Mink
I have been with Pearl since April 2016 and am currently an HR Manager for our Corporate Office. Outside of work, I love listening to music and playing bass guitar. While heavy metal is probably my favorite genre of music, I genuinely enjoy most types of music as long as it has a good groove.
My involvement with the HUBZone recertification primarily revolved around communication of data between Operations and HR. This includes communicating needed process changes to our HR staff when HUBZone criteria changed and communicating address changes to our Ops staff to ensure an accurate reporting of our current HUBZone addresses.
Being from a HUBZone area myself, it is a rewarding experience knowing I work for a company whose mission is to give good jobs to people living in economically underperforming areas.
Demika Jackson
I have been with Pearl since December of 2020. I started out as an Onboarding Specialist and within a few months moved to Onboarding Supervisor. When I am not working, I love spending time with my “SONshine” son who is 10 years old and his sports. We are sports people in our family, as I also love playing basketball and coaching my AAU co-ed team. My passion is to give back to the youth and eventually start a group home for kids/adolescents.
HUBZone is my baby and has been a part of me since I started working with Pearl. To understand what HUBZone is, is the best feeling in the world. Being able to have that personal connection with the candidates and explain to them what HUBZone is to Pearl, they are willing to go the extra mile to provide me the documentation that is needed. Being able to come together and accomplish a goal as a team is what Pearl is all about.