Mentor-Protégé Program: What’s In it for Me? Benefits of Mentoring & Subcontracting Small Businesses

Mentor-Protégé Program: What’s In it for Me? Benefits of Mentoring & Subcontracting Small

Businesses

Marina LaverdyCommercial Market Representative,U.S. Small Business Administration

Why Mentor-Protégé?

Mentor Protégé Programs assist businesses to expand their federal market participation therefore creating jobs and increasing national income.

A win-win situation for all

Mentor-Protégé Programs

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

Department of Defense (DoD)

NASA

SBA Mentor-Protégé Program

Purpose of Program:– Mentors provide various forms of assistance to

eligible Protégés– Serve as an additional developmental tool for 8(a)

participants– Enhance the capabilities of the Protégé and to

improve its ability to successfully compete for contracts


What type of assistance does the Mentor provide the Protégé?– Technical and Management assistance– Financial Assistance in the form of equity

investments or loans– Sub-contractual support– Assistance in performing prime contracts through

Joint Venture (JV) Arrangements


What are the requirements to become a Mentor?– A Mentor can be:

An 8(a) Participant in the transitional stage of the Program,

A graduated 8(a) firm, Another successful small business, or A large business


A Mentor must demonstrate that it:– Possesses favorable financial health– Possesses good character– Is not on the federal debarred or suspended list


To Qualify as a Protégé an 8(a) Participant Must:– Be a Participant in good standing in the 8(a)

Program– Be in the developmental stage of the Program

(years 1-4)– Never have received an 8(a) contract, or is less

than half the size standard corresponding to its primary NAICS Code


Benefits of participating in the Mentor-ProtégéProgram:

– Joint Venture arrangements– Mentor Financing of the Protégé (up to 40%

equity interest)– No determination of affiliation or control may be

found based on the Agreement or any assistance provided pursuant to the agreement.


A large business and a small business can Joint Venture on projects under the Mentor Protégé Program– A Joint Venture between an approved Mentor and

a Protégé firm will be deemed small provided the Protégé qualifies as small for the Size Standard corresponding to the NAICS Code assigned to the procurement.


A Mentor-Protégé agreement must:– Be in writing– Include an assessment of the Protégé’s needs– Include a description of the specific assistance

the Mentor will provide to address those needs– Be for the duration of a year– Include a provision that either party can terminate

with 30 days advance notice to the other party and SBA.


SBA will not approve a Mentor-Protégé agreement if:– The assistance to be provided is not sufficient to

promote any real gains to the Protégé– If the agreement is just a mechanism to enable a

non-8(a) Participant to receive 8(a) contracts


SBA annually evaluates all Mentor-Protégé relationships

– BDS reviews the Mentor-Protégé Relationship Report as part of the firm’s 8(a) Annual Review.

All federal contracts awarded to the Mentor-Protégé relationship as Joint Ventures,

Description of Mentor’s success in assisting the Protégé, Technical and/or management assistance provided by the

Mentor, Loans received from, or equity investments made by the

Mentor, and All subcontracts awarded and the value of each


SBA Mentor-Protégé Web Page:– www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/8abd/

mentorprogram/index.html

DoD Mentor-Protégé Program

Purpose of the Program– Provide incentives to major DoD contractors to

provide developmental assistance to qualified small businesses through reimbursable and/or credit agreements

– Increase qualified small business participation in DoD and federal arena

– Facilitate long-term relationships between the Mentor and Protégé


Credit Agreement– Allows Mentors to receive credit against their

small business subcontracting goals for costs incurred due to developmental assistance provided to the Protégé


Reimbursement Agreements– Allows Mentors to receive monetary

reimbursement of costs incurred due to developmental assistance provided to the Protégé


Program Success Measurement– Increase in the dollar value of contract and

subcontract awards to Protégé firms– Increase in the number and dollar value of

subcontracts awarded to a protégé firm by its mentor

– Increase in the employment level of Protégé firms


Mentor Eligibility– Must have an approved, active subcontracting

plan negotiated with DoD or other federal agency– Must be eligible for award of federal contracts– Must have an approved agreement– Must be committed to small business and Protégé

success


Protégé Eligibility– Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB),– A women-owned small business,– A HUBZone small business,– A service-disabled veteran-owned small business,– An eligible entity employing the severely disabled,– A firm owned and controlled by either an Indian

Tribe or a Native Hawaiian Organization


Protégé Commitment– A Protégé firm must pledge top-level commitment

of the necessary time and resources to accept technological and business development advances and training provided through the program


Benefits to the Mentor– Reimbursement/Credit for developmental costs– Long-term relationship with a trusted business

partner (supply chain)– Protégé trained to meet all mentor requirements

for quality, schedule and pricing– Non-competitive subcontracts to Protégé– Meet or exceed small business goals


Benefits to Protégé– Technology transfer, business infrastructure and

business development assistance– Preferred supplier to the Mentor– Long-term relationship with a trusted business

partner– Subcontracting opportunities


DoD Mentor-Protégé Program Web Page:– www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/mentor_protege/index.htm

NASA Mentor-Protégé Program

NASA Mentor-Protégé Program is designed to:– Encourage NASA prime contractors to assist Protégés in

enhancing their capabilities to perform NASA contracts and subcontracts

– Foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between Protégé firms and NASA prime contractors

– Increase the overall number of these entities that receive NASA contract and subcontract awards.


Requirements to be a Mentor– Firm must have an active and approved

subcontracting plan negotiated with NASA, and be eligible for the award of federal contracts.

– A Mentor must first apply and be approved to participate as a Mentor, by applying directly to the NASA Office of Small Business Programs.


Requirements to be a Protégé– Certified as a Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) by SBA – Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) – Historically Black College or University (HBCU) – Minority Institution (MI) – A Protégé is not required to submit a Protégé application in

advance of an agreement. The Protégé application is submitted concurrently with an agreement package


Credit Agreements– Currently only credit agreements are available for

participants – The Mentor receives credit on a one-to-one basis

toward their small business subcontracting goals


Needs Assessment– The Mentor must perform a needs assessment of

the Protégé to determine what type of developmental assistance is required

– Developmental assistance may either be related to technical transfer or business infrastructure.


Proposed agreements are evaluated based on the following criteria:

– Merit of the developmental assistance to the Protégé firm

– Perceived benefit/value of the agreement to NASA

– Percentage of hours associated with technology transfer

– Subcontracting opportunities available to the Protégé

– Utilization of HBCUs/MIs, PTACs, SBDCs

– Proposed cost

NASA Mentor-Protégé Agreements

NASA Mentor-Protégé Program Web Page:– http://osbp.nasa.gov/mentor.html

Contact Information

SBA Mentor-Protégé Web Page:– www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/8abd/mentorprogram/index.html

DoD Mentor-Protégé Program Web Page:– www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/mentor_protege/index.htm

NASA Mentor-Protégé Program Web Page:– http://osbp.nasa.gov/mentor.html

Marina [email protected]

(818) 552-3306

http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/8abd/mentorprogram/index.html

http://www.acq.osd.mil/osbp/mentor_protege/index.htm

http://osbp.nasa.gov/mentor.html

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Mentor-Protégé Program: What’s In it for Me? Benefits of Mentoring & Subcontracting Small Businesses