Government Contracting in California: Guide for Post-Acquisition Business Owners

California HUBZone areas include Central Valley rural counties (Kings, Tulare, Fresno), portions of the Inland Empire, and select census tracts in Los Angeles and San Diego. The Central Valley agricultural areas have some of the most accessible HUBZone designations in the state for firms that can establish a principal office there.

California's federal contracting market is dominated by defense and technology: Naval Base San Diego (Navy's largest), Vandenberg Space Force Base, Edwards AFB, and NAS Lemoore collectively anchor Southern and Central California military contracting. DOE national laboratories — Lawrence Livermore, Lawrence Berkeley, and SLAC — represent billions in annual contracts for research support and facilities services. An acquired IT firm in San Diego or Los Angeles with existing Navy or defense IT relationships, or an acquired engineering firm with DOE lab exposure, has access to one of the richest federal contracting markets in the country.