In a previous blog post, we covered the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) consolidation of the 8(a) Business Development (BD) Mentor-Protégé Program and the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program. Beyond consolidating the programs, SBA also made a host of additional changes to the 8(a) Program, almost all of which took effect on November 16, 2020. As
In the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) October 2019 Final Rule covering Consolidation of Mentor-Protégé Programs and Other Government Contracting Amendments, SBA also included modification to two of the affiliation tests under 13 C.F.R. § 121.103.
(Note, SBA made a number of other changes to 13 C.F.R. § 121.103 focused on the joint venture affiliation test.)
This week’s episode covers DFARS and SBA Mentor Protégé Program news and is hosted by partner Peter Eyre. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government contracts lawyer or executive should be without.
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In this second part of our blog series about the July 25, 2016 SBA final rule implementing numerous changes to multiple SBA regulations and establishing a new small business Mentor-Protégé Program (SB MPP), we address how such implementation impacts the parallel 8(a) Business Development mentor-protégé program (8(a) MPP). As the final rule points out, the 8(a) MPP will remain intact; however, the SBA has made several changes to the regulations governing that program, which largely represent the SBA’s efforts to harmonize the two programs. The paragraphs below discuss some of these changes, including those impacting the requirements for entry, ongoing reviews and terminations, and reporting obligations.
Requirements for Entry into the 8(a) MPP
With the creation of the SB MPP, companies qualifying as an 8(a) have the option to participate in either the 8(a) or the SB MPP. Any current or future participant in the 8(a) MPP should be aware of the final rules’ numerous changes to this program, as discussed below.
Continue Reading Living in Harmony: Notable Changes to Synchronize the 8(a) and Small Business Mentor-Protégé Programs
On July 25, 2016, the SBA published its final rule establishing a government-wide mentor-protégé program for the benefit of all small businesses as protégés. This widely-anticipated rule, implementing provisions of the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013, provides increased opportunity for small and large businesses to partner with one another. Effective August 24, 2016, this new program is expected to unleash a flood of new mentor-protégé agreements (MPAs) as well as joint ventures eligible to compete on set-aside procurements, and it could likely result in an increase in the number of set-aside procurements.
Below we discuss the benefits from participating in this program, the requirements for the mentor-protégé agreement (“MPA”), the eligibility criteria for mentors and protégés, and the requirements for joint ventures established pursuant to the MPAs. Given the numerous benefits to participating in this program, including the opportunity to joint venture, the SBA has layered into this final rule the requirement for numerous express certifications of compliance and severe consequences for violation of the SBA’s regulations, MPAs, and/or joint venture agreements. A separate blog post will address the changes that the SBA is implementing in the final rule to the SBA’s current regulations governing the 8(a) business development (BD) program.Continue Reading SBA Opens the Floodgates: The Mentor-Protégé Program Expands to All Small Businesses