Agencies will have one year to consolidate under SBA’s rules or get specific approval for their own plans. The SBA’s new rule establishes one set of program rules for all civilian agencies and all categories of small businesses. Section 1641 of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the SBA to establish a mentor-protégé program for all small businesses and to consolidate the design and operation of the program. The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 directed SBA to expand the mentor-protégé program beyond 8(a) companies to include women-owned businesses, veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses and HUBZone small businesses. Each agency has its own rules and monitoring program. Twelve other participating agencies oversee and administer the other half of existing mentor-protégé participants. Qualified companies acting as mentors provided technical, managerial, and financial assistance to help 8(a) companies compete for federal contracts.īy 2011, roughly 1,000 participating mentor-protégé joint ventures held federal contracts, with about half of those monitored by the SBA. These businesses were called “8(a) companies” because the program was authorized by section 8(a) of the Small Business Act. By 1998, the SBA was administering a program to help socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses. The Mentor-Protégé Program was authorized by Congress in 1991 as a pilot program to help certain small businesses compete for Defense Department contracts. Origin of SBA’s 8(a) Mentor-Protégé Program
With more small-business ventures available to compete, it may also increase the number of contract opportunities actually set aside for small business. The revamped program will no doubt increase the popularity of mentor-protégé agreements among companies seeking federal contracts for goods, services, and construction. This significant expansion can be expected to provide real benefits to small businesses, large businesses, and government agencies. Small Business Administration’s Mentor-Protégé Program is now open to all small businesses. Under a final rule published on July 25, 2016, the U.S.
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