Set-Aside Alert exclusive research:

Who are the 1,190 proteges on SBA’s Mentor-Protege teams?

Analysis reveals most popular protege locations, NAICS & small biz/socio-econ categories for proteges

      The Small Business Administration began publishing a monthly list of some of its active mentor-protege agreements a year ago, offering insights into what protege attributes are most prevalent.

      The SBA began publishing its active “All Small Mentor Protege Program” agreements in June 2020, when it counted 1,099 mentor-protege teams.

      By November, SBA had completed a merger of the “All Small” program with the 8(a) Mentor Protege Program to create the SBA Mentor-Protege Program, which had 1,190 mentor-protege agreements as of June 1.

      That is an expansion of 91 agreements in a year, most likely due primarily to the merger with the 8(a) mentor-protege program. The number of proteges with 8(a) status increased from 424 8(a) proteges in June 2020 to 488 8(a) proteges in June 2021, which is an additional 64 firms.

Most Popular Certifications

      Here are the most popular certifications listed for the proteges in June 2020. Many proteges have multiple certifications.

      Last year, SDVOSBs (Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses) led the pack.

      A year later, in June 2021, the 8(a)s were on top, most likely because of the merger with the 8(a) mentor-protege program rather than organic growth.

      All of the categories experienced growth, except for SDVOSBs, which shrunk in number.

      Note that the growth figures do not tell the full story for 8(a) proteges because the number of proteges in the 8(a) Mentor-Protege Program from June to November 2020, prior to the merger, was not immediately available. Also note that it was not possible to accurately count the “VOSB” and “EDWOSB” proteges due to the SBA’s structuring of the data.

Most Popular Primary NAICS Codes

      The most popular NAICS sector was “54 - Professional, Scientific and Technical Services.” There were 650 proteges in June 2020 and 707 proteges in June 2021 that listed a primary NAICS in that sector. However, the single most popular primary NAICS code was in sector “23 - Construction.”

      Here are the most popular primary NAICS codes listed as primary by proteges in June 2020 and June 2021:

Most popular locations

      It is not surprising that the most popular locations for proteges are the states that have a high proportion of federal contracts in general. Here are the top states for proteges in June 2020 and June 2021:

More Information:
M-P agreements: https://bit.ly/3cnfsT3

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