But joking aside, the protégé receives business development assistance tailored to its own individual needs.Ĭommon assistance includes things like loan and bond guarantees, assistance with back-office processes, such as accounting support, education, marketing assistance, subcontracts and much more – including guiding new entrants through that red tape. (No, that’s not official legal terminology). A recent SBA list of mentors included Accenture Federal Services, Booz Allen Hamilton, Raytheon Company and other household names.įor a protégé, the answer is obvious: the protégé gets stuff. Many well-known large businesses are acting as mentors. In practice, most mentors are officially classified as large businesses by the SBA. Any company can be a protégé so long as it qualifies as a small business in its primary line of business – or even in a secondary line of business in which it has previously done work.Īlmost any for-profit business can be a mentor, so long as the mentor has the resources, capabilities and interest to assist the protégé. They don’t call it the “All Small” Mentor-Protégé Program for nothing. While the primary focus of the program is business development, there are powerful competitive benefits, too. The program allows small businesses to pair with larger mentors. That’s the intent behind the SBA’s new “All Small” mentor-protégé program. Well, what if you had a larger, more experienced contractor to help guide the way – and perhaps back your proposals? Koprince is the Managing Partner of Koprince Law LLC All that red tape! All those acronyms! How can a new entrant hope to succeed? Steven J. If you are considering participating in a mentor-protégé program, we can make sure you comply with applicable requirements and get the maximum benefit from the program.For small businesses, entering the federal government marketplace can be a daunting proposition. The SBA must approve the mentor-protégé agreement before the firms may submit an offer as a joint venture to receive the exclusion from affiliation, and the firms must also execute a formal joint venture agreement containing terms prescribed by SBA regulations. SBA programs require a written agreement describing the assistance the mentor commits to provide and a timeline for delivery. Procuring activities may also provide incentive in the contract evaluation process to a firm that will provide significant subcontracting work to its SBA-approved protégé.Īll federal mentor-protégé programs require a formal mentor-protégé agreement. No determination of affiliation or control may be found between a protégé and its mentor based on the mentor-protégé agreement or any assistance provided under the agreement, and a protégé and mentor may joint venture as a small business for any government contract or subcontract for which the protégé qualifies (small business set-aside, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVO, or WOSB). SBA regulations offer important benefits to incentive participation in the mentor-protégé program, including exceptions from affiliation.
Mentors are encouraged to provide assistance relating to the performance of contracts set aside for small businesses so that protégé firms may more fully develop their capabilities. Like the original 8(a) BD mentor-protégé program, the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program encourages mentors to provide diverse types of business assistance to eligible small business protégés, including: technical and management assistance financial assistance in the form of equity investments, loans, and bonding trade education subcontracts (either from the mentor to the protégé or from the protégé to the mentor) and assistance in performing contracts through joint venture arrangements. The SBA now offers a Government-wide mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns modeled on the mentor-protégé program available to participants in the 8(a) Business Development program. For example, the primary focus of the DOD program is upon small businesses performing subcontracts and as suppliers on federal contracts, not upon small businesses performing federal contracts. All these programs are intended to promote small business development by pairing small protégés with more experienced mentors who may provide financial, technical, or management assistance and receive credit toward subcontracting goals and other incentives, but they differ in scope and operation. Two do not require SBA approval: DOD and FAA.
Five federal agencies have SBA-approved programs: DOE, DHS, NASA, DOT, and SBA.
The federal government maintains several mentor-protégé programs to assist small businesses.
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