Advantages of Small Business Mentor Protege Programs Across the Federal Agencies
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SBA Mentor Protege Program
A protege firm must be an 8(a) firm that meets certain criteria. Advantages include that the Mentor may form joint ventures between the mentor and protege to compete on any federal procurement (as an 8(a) firm), mentor may own up to a 40% equity investment in the protege, no determination of affiliation or control may be found for assistance granted under a mentor protege agreement. -
DOD Mentor Protege Program
A protege firm must be either a small disadvantaged business (SDB), a qualifying organization employing the severely disabled, a women-owned small business (WOSB), a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB), or a historically underutilized business zone (HUBZone). Advantages - Direct reimbursed Agreements are those in which the Mentor receives reimbursement for allowable costs of developmental assistance provided to the protege. Credit Agreements are those in which the Mentor receives a multiple of credit toward their SDB subcontracting goal based on the cost of developmental assistance provided to the protege. -
DOE Mentor Protege Program
You can apply to be a protege if you are an 8(a) business, other small disadvantaged business, women-owned business, service disabled veteran-owned business, HUBZone business, or a Historically Black College and University or other Minority Educational Institution (to achieve further development of your technical administrative and managerial expertise). Applicants also are required to be eligible to receive government contracts, have been in business for at least two years before you apply, and certify as a small business according to the North American Industrial Code for the services or supplies to be provided under the subcontract with your mentor. Advantages: You may be eligible for reimbursement of allowable costs incurred while providing assistance to the protege performing subcontract activities. -
DHS Mentor Protege Program
All small businesses that meet the definition of small business concern at FAR 19.001, based on their primary NAICS code, are eligible to be protege firms. This includes small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. Advantages are Extra credit may be given to the subcontracting plan when the prime and subcontractor are in an M/P relationship. Additionally, a post-award incentive for subcontracting plan credit is available by recognizing costs incurred by a mentor firm in providing assistance to a protege firm and using this credit for purposes of determining whether the mentor firm attains a subcontracting plan participation goal applicable to the mentor firm under a Homeland Security contract. -
NASA Mentor Protege Program
To be a protege an entity must be one of the following: Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), Historically Black College or University (HBCU), Minority Institution (MI), Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) Concern, NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Company, A company participating in the AbilityOne Program. Advantages - Extra credit may be given to the subcontracting plan when the prime and subcontractor are in an M/P relationship. -
EPA Mentor Protege Program
A protege must be a small disadvantaged or woman-owned business and must qualify in the NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) major groups, as determined by the U.S. Department of Commerce. HBCUs and MIs may also participate in the program. Advantages are Extra points may be given in the technical evaluation in a proposal when the mentor includes the protege in a proposal. -
Department of the Treasury Mentor protege Program
A protege must be a SB, WOSB, SDB, HUBZone, VOSB, or SDVOSB. Advantages are Extra credit may be given to the subcontracting plan when the prime and subcontractor are in an M/P relationship. -
Department of Veterans Affairs Mentor protege Program
A protege must be a Veteran owned small business (VOSB) or a Service Disabled Veteran owned small business (SDVOSB). Advantages: VA Contracting Officers will give proposal evaluation consideration to Mentor firms when utilizing evaluation factors in their contract solicitations, large businesses prime contractors serving as Mentors under VA's Mentor Protege Program may receive additional subcontracting plan credit towards a specific VA contract. -
US AID Mentor Protege Program
A protege must be a Small Business, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), Veteran Owned Small Businesses (VOSB), Woman Owned Small Businesses, and Small Businesses that have obtained certification in the Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) program. Advantages: Contracting Officers will give proposal evaluation consideration to Mentor firms when utilizing evaluation factors in their contract solicitations, large businesses prime contractors serving as Mentors under the Mentor Protege Program may receive additional subcontracting plan credit towards a specific contract. -
GSA Mentor Protege Program
All small businesses that meet the definition of small business concern at FAR 19.001, based on their primary NAICS code, are eligible to be protege firms. Advantages: Contracting Officers will give proposal evaluation consideration to Mentor firms when utilizing evaluation factors in their contract solicitations, Large businesses prime contractors serving as Mentors under the Mentor Protege Program may receive additional subcontracting plan credit towards a specific contract. -
FAA Mentor Protege Program
All small businesses (SB) preferably Small Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Businesses (SEDB), Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Minority Institutions (MI) and Women-Owned (WO) Small Businesses. Advantages: Mentors may receive additional evaluation points (for Mentor-Protege Program participation) toward the award of contracts during the evaluation of competitive offers. Mentors may receive credit toward attaining subcontracting goals contained in their FAA subcontracting plan(s) for Mentor-Protege participation. Costs incurred by a mentor to provide developmental assistance (i.e., technical or managerial) described in Section 1.12 are allowable as indirect costs (appropriate documentation shall be provided) unless the contract contains a line item specifically for the Mentor-Protege Program. -
HHS Mentor Protege Program
All small businesses that meet the definition of small business concern at FAR 19.001, based on their primary NAICS code, are eligible to be protege firms. This includes small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. Advantages: Mentors in the Mentor-Protege Program may receive credit toward attaining subcontracting goals contained in the HHS subcontracting plan(s) for Mentoring Program participation on a dollar by dollar basis by counting protege developmental assistance costs in their various small business subcontracting categories, as appropriate, in addition to traditional subcontracts. -
Department of State Mentor Protege Program
All small businesses that meet the definition of small business concern at FAR 19.001, based on their primary NAICS code, are eligible to be protege firms. This includes small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business concerns. Mentors in the Mentor-Protege Program may receive credit toward attaining subcontracting goals contained in the HHS subcontracting plan(s) for Mentoring Program participation on a dollar by dollar basis by counting protege developmental assistance costs in their various small business subcontracting categories, as appropriate, in addition to traditional subcontracts.
Additional resources provided by the author
Each Agency has a mentor protege page which can be accessed by doing a simple search, for example "DOD mentor protegeThe article is intended to provide general guidance and is not intended to provide specific legal guidance. We encourage you to seek out independent legal counsel prior to engaging with a mentor or protege. The decision to become a mentor or protege is an important decision with many facets and should be well considered with both legal and financial guidance.
