The mentor can provide a variety of assistance to the protégé. 24, 2016.Īssistance the Mentor Can Provide Under the MP Program The New MP program rules will become effective on Aug. The SBA reports that the new MP program is substantially similar to the 8(a) mentor protégé program. The new MP Program is designed to allow mentors to provide assistance to protégé firms in order to improve the protégé’s ability to successfully compete for and perform federal project work. Now, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), Women Owned Small Businesses (WOSB), HUBZone and Small Businesses (SB) are eligible to participate in the new MP Program. While the SBA has had a well-established mentor protégé program for SBA 8(a) certified firms, it lacked a mentor protégé program for other small businesses. On July 25, 2016, the SBA published its new Small Business Mentor Protégé Program Rules (MP Program). To learn more about the SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program and review a sample application, go to the SBA’s website. The bottom line: done right, a mentor-protégé agreement is a win-win. With around $100 billion in prime contracts awarded to small businesses annually, it’s little wonder that large firms are interested in ways to access those opportunities. And the mentor and protégé are allowed to form joint ventures to compete as a prime contract team for any prime contract or subcontract for which the protégé qualifies – even if the mentor itself ordinarily would be too large to compete. When the SBA approves a mentor-protégé agreement, the mentor can have a closer working relationship with the protégé than might otherwise be possible under the SBA’s affiliation rules. Federal contracts are often reserved for small businesses or for socioeconomic subcategories of small businesses, such as woman-owned or veteran-owned companies. Small businesses have access to segments of the federal marketplace that large businesses cannot directly access themselves. A savvy protégé ensures that the mentor-protégé agreement helps the protégé reach the next stages in its development faster and easier than otherwise would be the case.īut why the heck would a large company want to provide all of this (aside from the warm fuzzies of helping a small company develop)? In a word: access. 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.

For small businesses, entering the federal government marketplace can be a daunting proposition.

Sba mentor protege