CIO-SP4: Large Mentors Now Get More Credit

I wrote earlier about the restriction on the number of experience examples a large business mentor can provide. Well, NITAAC has listened! OK, they probably weren’t listening directly to me, but let me have this one, alright. CIO-SP4 has been amended to allow large business mentors to contribute two examples of corporate experience per task area.

Continue reading

CIO-SP4: Is it Limiting Mentor Experience Too Much?

The CIO-SP4 is a big deal for many small and large federal contractors. And lately it’s been a bit of a moving target as to how NITAAC will evaluate the experience of companies working together in prime-sub, mentor-protégé, and joint-venture relationships. We wrote about some of the issues with past performance and other recent changes. One change that caught my eye puts a restriction on the number of experience examples a large business mentor can provide. But should it?

Continue reading

GAO: Solicitation Cannot Require a Protégé Have the Same Experience as its Mentor

SBA regulations prohibit agencies from requiring the same past performance record from both mentor and protégé entities.  The regulations explicitly prohibit this type of requirement.

In a recent GAO decision, it sustained the protest where an agency required all members in a joint venture to submit the same past experience examples in their proposal.

Continue reading

Mentor-Protégé Consolidation Goes Live: What Does this Mean for You?

The 8(a) Business Development Mentor-Protégé Program has officially been consolidated into the All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program. The goal: to eliminate duplications in regulations and to alleviate confusion between the two programs.

This change has been years in the making. Since the All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program was introduced in 2016, confusion between the two programs has persisted. SBA began looking at how to streamline the programs. We first wrote about the proposed rule changes back in November 2019.

SBA has now implemented its overhaul and consolidation through a final rule; follow along as we take you through what you need to know about the new rules.

Continue reading

SBA Eases Lifetime Limit on Mentors

The SBA has long had a lifetime limit of two mentors for each protégé–and this limit was enforced very strictly. Say the mentor ghosted the protégé, or the two just never did any contracts together. Well, too bad, that still used up one of the two lifetime mentors that a protégé could have.

They say there are no second chances, but the SBA’s new rule will allow for second chances on a mentor protégé arrangement in some circumstances, which should benefit protégés going forward.

Continue reading

SBA Confirms Mentor can Own 40% of Protégé and Get 60% of Joint Venture Workshare

The SBA’s recent final rule on Mentor-Protégé Program consolidation included a number of important updates and clarifications. Among these was an explanation of the rules involving a mentor owning part of a protégé while also being part of a joint venture with the same protégé. It’s something I’ve always wanted SBA to confirm, so I’m glad they did.

Continue reading