ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD html 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Set-Aside Alert - 8-18-17 - 8(a) firms have choice in mentor-protege programs: how to compare? </TITLE> <meta name="description" content="The premier federal government contract news and information service written especially for small, minority and women-owned businesses"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="govcon, contracting, contractor, small business, set-aside, set aside, setaside, government contract, OSDBU, small disadvantaged, federal contract, HUBZone, HUB Zone, minority-owned, woman-owned, 8a, 8(a), minority owned, MBE, WBE, WOB, SDB, DBE"> </HEAD> <BODY LINK="#000000" VLINK="#000000"> <!--<center> --> <table> <tr><td width="8%" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"> </td> <td width="84%"> <table> <tr><td> <IMG SRC="set-aside.gif" alt="Set-Aside Alert logo" WIDTH="341" HEIGHT="70" BORDER="0" ALT="Set Aside Alert logo"> </td> <td valign="top"> <FONT FACE="garamond" SIZE="3" COLOR="#D00000"> <i><b>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> Federal Market Intelligence<br> for Small Business</b></i> </font> </td> </tr> </table> <p> <center> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" color="#D00000"><b> <!--<a href="inside.htm">Wash Insider</a> | --> <a href="saanews.htm">Front Page Headlines </a> | <a href="calendar.htm">Calendar of Events</a> | <a href="awards.htm">Contract Awards</a> | <a href="new8as.htm">Newly-Certified Firms</a> | <a href="dodawds.htm">DoD Small Business Awards</a> | <a href="teamopps.htm">Teaming</a> | <a href="procwatch.htm">Procurement Watch</a> | <a href="http://www.sba8a.com/SAASubscribers/toc.htm">Past Issues</a> | <!--<a href="http://www.setasidealert.com/events2.htm">Meet Us!</a> | --> </b> </font> </center> <table><tr><td> <!-- ENTER DATE HERE --> <left><FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <i> Aug 18 2017 </i> </font> </left> </td> <td>&nbsp;&nbsp; </td> <td> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <right><i> Next issue: Sept 8 2017 </i></right> </font> </td> </tr></table> <hr> <p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"><tr> <!-- Begin main column --> <P> <td width="5%"> </td> <td valign="top" width="60%"> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial"> <!-- REPLACE THE STORY HEADLINE AND CONTENT WITH THE APPLICABLE STORY HEAD AND CONTENT. SAVE THE STORY AS STORY1.HTM THRU STORY99.HTM. --> <P> <h2> <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> news analysis: </h2> <h1> 8(a) firms have choice in mentor-protege programs: how to compare? </h1> <!--<h4> </h4> --> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Small businesses certified as 8(a) Business Development Program participants by the Small Business Administration now have a greater choice of mentor-protege programs. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The 8(a) companies can choose from either the SBA s longstanding 8(a) Mentor Protege Program or its newer All Small Mentor-Protege Program, John W. Klein, associate general counsel for procurement law at the SBA, confirmed to <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> in an email. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And while having more options could be beneficial, it also may be creating challenges. </p> <p> <b>8(a) Mentor-Protege Program</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For many years, the SBA offered only one mentoring program, which was exclusively for 8(a)s. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The SBA s 8(a) mentoring program was designed to give those disadvantaged firms a leg up in forming partnerships with larger companies. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The 8(a) mentor-protege program was the most robust among civilian agencies. SBA officials have said in recent months that about 400 to 450 mentor-protege agreements are in effect in the 8(a) Mentor-Protege Program. </p> <p> <b>All Small Mentor-Protege</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the defense authorization bill of 2013, Congress granted authority for, but did not order, the creation of a governmentwide mentor-protege program open to all small businesses. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The SBA launched the All Small Mentor Protege Program in October 2016. It has been very popular, with 250 mentor-protege agreements approved thus far, according to the SBA website. </p> <p> <b>8(a) choices </b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The 8(a)s now must choose between the two mentorship programs. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  8(a)s have a choice. They can choose either option or both, but each program has different attributes. It is too early to tell which one is more advantageous, Jon M. DeVore, government contracting attorney with Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot PC, told <i>Set-Aside Alert</i>. </p> <p> <b>8(a) joint ventures</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One major difference is that in the 8(a) Mentor-Protege Program, any 8(a) joint venture with its mentor requires SBA District Office  involvement and approval, according to Klein. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That means any joint ventures formed in the 8(a) mentoring program need to be individually approved by the SBA district office assigned to that 8(a). </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That is not the case for the All Small mentoring program. Joint ventures formed by 8(a)s or any other small business under the All Small program do not require any SBA approvals. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There may be some benefits to the 8(a) companies in having their joint venture agreements reviewed and approved by the SBA district office, DeVore said. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  It can assure that the small business is not agreeing to egregious terms, DeVore said. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the same time, requiring SBA district office approval for each joint venture has the potential to slow down the process significantly, delaying the ability to win contracts, according to Brad Reaves, government contracting attorney with Reaves Coley PLLC. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gaining SBA district office approvals  is a much more bureaucratic and drawn-out process, Reaves told <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> in an interview. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  It would be difficult (to get a joint venture approved) with any speed, he said. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Another potential difficulty is that with the popularity of the All Small program, and its ease of creating joint ventures, it potentially creates competition with the 8(a) Mentor-Protege program, Reaves said. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By allowing all types of small businesses to form joint ventures it may  dilute the appeal of joint ventures with 8(a)s, Reaves added. </p> <p> <b>8(a) exemption from affiliation</b> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In both mentorship programs, the 8(a) joint venture with its larger business partner would get an exclusion from the prohibition on affiliation, according to Klein. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That means that a joint venture is considered  small if the protégé  qualifies as small individually under the size standard corresponding to the NAICS code assigned to the contract, and (if) the joint venture meets SBA's rules requiring control in the protégé, Klein says. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Such a joint venture is then eligible to perform any contract for which the protégé is eligible to perform, Klein wrote. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In other words, if an 8(a) forms a joint venture under either mentorship program, the joint venture can perform an 8(a) contract. </p> <p> <!--<b>More information:</b> Shoraka blog: <a href="http://goo.gl/eBC9zp">http://goo.gl/eBC9zp</a> --> </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font> </td> <!-- Begin secondary column --> <td valign="top" width="35%"> </p> <p> <!-- start contents ------------------------------------- --> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" COLOR="#000000"> <p> <a href="story1.htm"> <h4> 8(a) firms have choice in mentor-protege programs: how to compare? </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story2.htm"> <h4> House OKs bills affecting veteran contracting </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story3.htm"> <h4> Did DOL create an H&W mess? </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story4.htm"> <h4> Senate panel backs HUBZone legislation </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story5.htm"> <h4> Per diems rise </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story6.htm"> <h4> WOSB study </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="column.htm"> <h4> Column: Finding a mentor, Part 2 </h4> </a> </p> <p> <h4><a href="inside.htm"> Washington Insider: </h4> </p> <p> <h4> <ul> <li> Fraud update: prison time, penalties for cheaters <li> Shutdown, debt crash? <li> $1.5B in personal service </ul> </h4> </a> <p> </p> </FONT> <!-- end contents-------------------------------------- --> </p> <p> <p> </td> </tr> </table> <font face="verdana,tahoma,arial" size="2"> <form method="post" action="/cgi-bin/goswish"> <p>Find all past issues containing these words: <br> <input type="text" name="query" size=30> &nbsp;&nbsp; <input type="submit" value="Search"> <input type="reset" value="Reset"></p></form> </p> <br> <hr> <p> Copyright &copy; 2017 Business Research Services Inc. 301-229-5561 All rights reserved. </p> <p> <h6> <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> is published by<br> <b>Business Research Services, Inc.</b><br> 4641 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 208<br> Bethesda MD 20814<br> 1-800-845-8420<br> Fax: 877-516-0818<br> <a href="mailto:brspubs@sba8a.com">brspubs@sba8a.com </a> <br> <a href="http://www.sba8a.com">www.sba8a.com</a> <!-- <ul> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com">8(a) Sources</a> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com/order.htm">Our Directories</a> <li><a href="http://www.sba8a.com/about.htm">Our Company</a> <li><a href="http://www.setasidealert.com">Events & Seminars</a> </ul> --> </h6> </font> </td> <td width="8%" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"> </td></table> <a title="hits counter" href="http://statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://c.statcounter.com/10553859/0/0486a933/1/" alt="hits counter" style="border:none;"></a> </BODY> </HTML>