Small businesses entering government contracting often lean on the federal 8(a) program, which offers training and contracting opportunities to owners facing social and economic disadvantages. Margarita Howard, founder of HX5, used that program as a launching pad, but she made sure her company was never fully dependent on it.
“After becoming an 8(a) company, we were awarded very quickly four contracts in one year and that really helped in getting us off the ground,” Howard says. The results came fast, but Howard had already seen what happens to companies that rely on the program alone.
A LESSON FROM OTHER SMALL BUSINESSES
“We had been in the industry, we knew small businesses in our area, and that’s what many of them did,” she says, referring to sole-source awards. “And once the program was over after nine years, they were done. They had never competed. They had never really done it on their own.” Margarita Howard pushed HX5 toward competitive bidding instead, building the internal infrastructure needed to win contracts without relying on set-aside status.
That approach has paid off. Large contractors and government agencies alike are required to meet small-business goals, and Howard says HX5 built a reputation early as a company that did not need extra help to perform. “So when they find a small company that they know understands the industry and they’re not going to have to hold their hand, I’m proud to say they were very impressed with us,” she says.
Today, HX5 employs more than 1,000 people across 34 states and 90 government locations, supporting the Department of Defense and NASA from its headquarters in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Margarita Howard credits the company’s early investment in infrastructure and competitive readiness as the reason HX5 kept growing long after its 8(a) status stopped being a factor.
Howard also points to the strength of her management team as a piece of that same growth story. Many of the people she brought on early in HX5’s history are still with the company more than a decade later, a level of continuity she says is rare among federal contractors of similar size. That stability, paired with a willingness to compete for contracts on their merits, has helped HX5 keep expanding well beyond what its 8(a) years alone could have supported. Check out this page for related information.
Find more information about Margarita Howard HX5 on https://www.finsmes.com/2026/01/margarita-howard-on-how-hx5s-defense-origins-launched-its-expansion-into-nasa-contracting.html