Getting the Most out of your Mentor-Protégé

Relationship: A Mentor's Perspective

Shawn Ralston Small Business Liaison Officer

AECOM - Design and Consulting Services Group

What do you want to get out of an agreement?

Have you done your homework?

Have you thought about what mentors are looking for?

What is the mentor’s approach?

Which Mentor-Protégé Program is right for you?

SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program & Joint Venturing

Expansion of SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program

Resources

Table Of Contents

What do you want to get out of an agreement?

• New certifications?• Enhanced Infrastructure? • New Technology? • Financial Assistance in the form of equity or loans• Enhanced Strategic Relationship? • Client Recognition? • Access to New Markets?

What does success look like?

• Joint Venture?

• Growth?

• Affiliation?

Have you done your homework?

• Have you worked contractually with the mentor?

• Who are your points of contact with the mentor?

• How has your performance been with that mentor?

• If you have worked with the mentor, under what client?

• Does that client have a mentor-protégé program?

• Are you eligible to be a protégé under that program?

• Does the mentor participate in mentor-protégé programs?

• Have you reviewed the mentor’s website on mentor-protégé?

Additional Question to Ask Yourself

• Do you met the mentor’s requirements?

• Have you reviewed the agency’s website on mentor-protégé?

• Have you met with the agency’s mentor-protégé director or others within the OSDBU office?

• What are the incentives for participating under the given program? Reimbursement? Evaluation Credit? Compulsory Participation for a specific procurement?

• Can you dedicate sufficient time and resources to making the program work?

• What do you want to get out of an agreement?

• What benefits are there for participating with you under the given program?

What are the MP Program’s Requirements?

• Is the mentor eligible? • GSA requires mentor to have a GSA contract

• Are you eligible to be a protégé • SBA program is only open to 8(a) companies

(right now)• EPA limits protégé eligibility to only SDB or

WOSB) • When can an agreement be submitted? • EPA requires submission with a contract bid• Army submission deadlines of Feb. 15th & June 15th in 2015

(submission windows common with DoD due to funding)

What is the mentor looking for?

• Current Teammate, Subcontractor, or Small Business Prime

• Value proposition within the market (e.g. strategic relationship, complementary skill) – There is a cost to an agreement for the mentor

• Mature enough for the assistance to be beneficial (may have a minimum size measured in revenue or employees)

• Strategic long-term value as both a subcontractor and SB Prime

• No competition with current protégé capabilities

• No active mentor-protégé agreement within the targeted agency or any other agency

• Active within the federal space – holding a federal contract or subcontract for a period of time

• Compatible business ethics and philosophy

• Financially stable and viable (may request information to support this)

What is mentor’s approach?

• Discussions with current client facing points of contract

• Involvement of the Small Business Liaison Officer

• Discussions with the agency SB Office or Mentor-Protégé Program Manager

• Questionnaire Completion by protégé

• Needs Assessment (required by some mentor-protégé programs)

• Financial Screening (some mentors require this)

• Draft Agreement – involves a good bit of back and forth to ensure agreement is targeted and assistance is needed and wanted

• Signing of agreement and Submission to Agency for Approval

• Kick-off meeting (Internal or External)

• Execute and report as needed (Agency Reports & Program Management Review)

• Post Agreement Protégé Reporting (to help measure impact)

Which mentor-protégé program is right for you?

• Small Business Administration • Department of Homeland Security• Department of Energy• Department of the Treasury• General Services Administration• Federal Aviation Administration • Environmental Protection Agency • National Aeronautics and Space

Administration• Department of State*• Department of Transportation• US Agency for International

Development

• Department of Defense o Army

o Navy

o Air Force

o Missile Defense Agency

o National Security Agency

o U.S. Special Operations Command

o Joint Ground Robotics Enterprise

o National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

o Defense Logistics Agency

o Defense Intelligence Agency

o Defense Contract Management Agency (Credit Agreements)

The SBA Mentor-Protégé Program – Protégé Eligibility

• In order to initially qualify as a protégé firm, a Participant must: Be in the developmental stage of program participation; or Have never received an 8(a) contract; or Have a size that is less than half the size standard corresponding to its primary NAICS code.– Only firms that are in good standing in the 8(a) BD program (e.g., firms that do not have

termination or suspension proceedings against them, and are up to date with all reporting requirements) may qualify as a protégé.

– A protégé firm may generally have only one mentor at a time. A second mentor for a particular protégé firm may be approved where the second relationship will not compete or otherwise conflict with the business development assistance set forth in the first mentor/protégé relationship and either:

The second relationship pertains to a, secondary NAICS code; or The protégé firm is seeking to acquire a specific expertise that the first mentor does not possess.

– A protégé may not become a mentor and retain its protégé status. The protégé must terminate its mentor/protégé agreement with its mentor before it will be approved as a mentor to another 8(a) Participant.

– SBA will not approve a mentor/protégé relationship for an 8(a) Participant with less than six months remaining in its program term.

Joint Venturing under SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program

• Affiliation: In general, JV members are deemed affiliated with each other for the procurement in question unless an exception to affiliation applies (businesses are affiliates of each other when one controls or has the power to control the other, or a third party controls or has the power to control both)

• Prior Approval: SBA must approve the mentor/protégé agreement before the two firms may submit an offer as a JV on a particular Government prime contract or subcontract in order for the JV to receive the exclusion from affiliation

• Limitations: A single JV formed under the Mentor Protégé Program can generally be awarded no more than three contracts over a two-year period (the so-called Three-in-Two Rule) – the JV can no longer bid once it has been awarded the third contract although additional JVs can be formed

• Work Requirements: For any 8(a) contract, or a non-8(a) contract for which the JV seeks an exception from affiliation, the JV itself must meet the Limitation on Subcontract requirement of the contract. In addition, in an unpopulated JV the protégé must perform at least 40% of the work done by the JV partners in the aggregate. The work performed by 8(a) partners to a joint venture must be more than administrative or ministerial functions so that they gain substantive experience. For populated JVs, a mentor or any of its affiliates cannot be a subcontractor to the JV

• Note: Leaving the 8(a) BD program, or terminating the mentor-protégé relationship while a protégé firm is still in the Program, does not affect contracts previously awarded to a JV between the protégé and its mentor. However, once a protégé firm graduates from or leaves the 8(a) BD program, it will not be eligible for any further benefits from its mentor-protégé relationship (including new joint venturing or bids)

Expansion of SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program

2013 NDAA amended the SB Jobs Act to establish mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns

The new Mentor-Protégé Program will be modeled on the SBA’s current 8(a) Mentor-Protégé Program

SBA has not yet released a proposed rule on this expansion but one is expect in the next month or so – the proposed rule should provide insight into the possible details of the new program (e.g. Eligibility Requirements, Length of Agreements, Benefits for the mentor including ability to JV while receiving the exemption from affiliation)

The SBA will also approve and issue regulations for all mentor-protégé programs except those at DOD

Resources• Department of Defense Mentor-Protégé Website

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

• SBA Mentor-Protégé Website https://www.sba.gov/content/mentor-protege-program

• OSDBU Council Website http://www.osdbu.gov/members.html

• AECOMO Mentor-Protégé Website: http://www.urs.com/small-businesssupplier-diversity/mentor-protege-program/

My contact Information: Shawn Ralston 703-713-6582 shawn.ralston@aecom.com