WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe and her staff will present seven HUBZone educational programs across the state during the week of Nov. 28, including one in Paris and another in Farmington.

The forums are designed to encourage small business owners, located in Historically Underutilized Business Zones, or HUBZones, to seek certification and utilize the federal program.

Snowe is chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

“This is an opportunity for Maine small business owners, located in (HUBZones) to learn how they can take advantage of federal government contracts,” Snowe said in a prepared statement last week.

“This program is designed to stimulate economic development and create jobs in urban and rural communities by providing federal contracting preference to small businesses,” Snowe said.

In Maine, HUBZones include Franklin, Oxford, Somerset, Piscataquis, Washington and Aroostook counties, as well as six Indian reservations, and 23 specific census tract areas in five counties.

The Paris meeting will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at Central Maine Community College at 232 Main St., adjacent to Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

The Farmington meeting also will be held on Nov. 29, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., at the University of Maine at Farmington Student Center at 111 South St.

Space is limited for the seminars, and pre-registration is required. To register, people may visit www.sba.gov/me or call Rose Oleksiak at the Maine office of the U.S. Small Business Administration at 622-8554.