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SBA’s 8(a) Mentor-Protégé Program

If you are a certified 8(a) company,

  • Would you benefit from having an experienced Federal contractor willing to pass on valuable management and technical, financial, business development, contracting and other assistance to you at absolutely no cost?
  • Would you benefit from having available a bonding-level large enough to qualify you for any size construction contract that you might crave?
  • Would you benefit from having little or no-cost access to all of the special equipment, software and personnel necessary to tackle just about any contract?    
  • Would you benefit from bidding, priming and winning three large contracts over the next two years, with a large, qualified and experienced subcontractor, who helped you prepare the winning bid at virtually no cost to you?
  • Would you benefit from having an investor in your company to provide needed investment capital or a timely line-of credit to finance those new large receivables?

The answers to the above questions should be universally, YES! Coincidentally, the obvious benefits can accrue to both small-to-medium sized 8(a) and also to even the largest of our nation’s Federal contracting firms and they can be simply secured by their mutual participation in the 8(a) Mentor-Protégé Program.

Why would a large experienced Federal contracting firm want to participate with you in the SBA’s 8(a) Mentor-Protégé Program? 

Here are just five of the top reasons:

  1. They will gain access to a multi-billion dollar marketplace of Federal contracting opportunities not available to themselves or their competitors.
  2. They will benefit from having a dependable subcontractor that understands their corporate policies, procedures, processes and people because they have personally trained them in all of these aspects of their business.
  3. They will benefit from bidding, winning, avoiding the sore-loser protests and being a major subcontractor on three large construction projects over the next two years to a business that they have established a professional relationship with in the recent past.
  4. They will benefit from investing in a company that they assisted to grow into a viable teaming partner for future business opportunities and a trusted subcontractor on future Federal projects.
  5. They will benefit from having available a skilled subcontractor that will assist their firm meet its small disadvantaged business subcontracting goals without the fear of having to compromise on their firm’s quality, schedule adherence and price competitiveness requirements. They will benefit from investing in a company that they assisted to grow into a viable teaming partner for future business opportunities and a trusted subcontractor on future Federal projects.
Review meeting

Just what is this program?

The SBA Mentor-Protégé Program is designed to encourage approved Mentors to provide various forms of assistance to eligible 8(a) Participants as Protégés. The purpose of the Mentor-Protégé relationship is to enhance the capabilities of the Protégé and to improve its ability to successfully compete for Federal contracts. The various types of assistance that a Mentor may provide to a Protégé include:

  • Technical and/or management assistance;
  • Financial assistance in the form of equity investments, and/or loans;
  • Offerings of subcontracts;
  • Assistance in the performance of prime contracts with the Federal government in the form of Joint Venture arrangements. 

The SBA is the Federal agency charged with administering the Mentor-Protégé Program. The SBA determines the eligibility of participants in the Program, whether it be the Mentor, or the Protégé, approves the Mentor-Protégé Agreement, and annually reviews the effectiveness of existing Mentor-Protégé relationships.

Mentoring

How do you know if you are eligible to participate in the SBA 8(a) Mentor-Protégé Program?

If you are a prospective Federal contractor Protégé, there are only a few conditions that you must meet:

  1.   You must be in the Developmental Stage, i.e., first 4 years, of the 8(a) program or have yet to receive an 8(a) contract, OR
  2.   Your company’s revenues must be less than one-half of the size standard associated with your primary NAICS code
  3.   You must be in good standing with your local SBA District office, with an approved 8(a) Annual Review Update and 8(a) Business Plan that identifies the needs that you may be looking for a qualified Mentor to assist you to meet your company goals.

If you are a prospective Federal contractor Mentor, these are the conditions that you must meet:

  • You must be in good financial health, including being profitable for at least the last two years.
  • You must possess a good character as a company.
  • You must be able to impart your practical industry knowledge to the Protégé to assist them to meet their identified needs, especially with regard to Federal contracting.

How can we assist you if you would like to participate in the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program?

If you are a Protégé candidate, we can:

  1. Assist you to find a Mentor that will want to work with you.
  2. Prepare, amend or re-vamp your 8(a) Business Plan so that it will be an acceptable attachment to your Mentor-Protégé Agreement.
  3. Assist you in deciding what your real needs are that you would want a Mentor to assist you to meet.
  4. Prepare your Mentor-Protégé Agreement and all associated documents.
  5. Respond to any and all of the SBA’s comments re: your Mentor-Protégé Agreement.
  6. Assist you in preparing the annual Mentor-Protégé Status Report.

If you are a candidate to be a Mentor, we can:

  1. Assist you to find a Protégé that you can work with effectively.
  2. Prepare all sections of the Mentor-Protégé Agreement package required of a Mentor.
  3. Assist you in preparing your response to each of the Protégé’s needs that you will commit to provide assistance in meeting.
  4. Prepare your portion of the mentor-Protégé Agreement and all associated documents.
  5. Respond to any and all of the SBA’s comments re: your Mentor-Protégé Agreement.
  6. Assist you in preparing the annual Mentor-Protégé Status Report.

If you are still curious about the advantages of being either a Mentor or a Protégé, I invite you to call and to talk to me personally about your specific situation, no cost or obligation.

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