Mentor-Protégé Program

GSA’s Mentor-Protégé Program is designed to encourage and motivate GSA prime contractors to assist small businesses and enhance their capability of performing successfully on GSA contracts and subcontracts. The goal is to increase the overall number of small businesses receiving GSA prime contract and subcontract awards, resulting from mentorship and advanced business practices. The Mentor-Protégé Program also enhances the capability of Program Participants to achieve entrepreneurial success, be competitive, and contribute to the strength and vigor of our economy.

The mentor firms benefit from their association with small businesses. The mentors receive exposure to new business ideas and technology, a higher profile within the GSA community, as well as the satisfaction of helping mentors to reach their subcontracting goals.

The purpose of the Mentor-Protégé relationship is to:

• Improve the capabilities of the protégé
• Assist the protégé with meeting the goals established in its SBA-approved business plan
• Improve the protégé’s ability to effectively compete for contracts

Since September of 2009, the GSA Mentor-Protégé program has been helping connect prime contractors with small businesses. As with the other agencies’ mentor protégé programs, it is focused on small business growth and development and encouraging subcontractor partnering relationships.

The number of GSA-based Mentor-Protégé relationships continues to grow. On April 11, 2011, GSA held its first annual mentor-protégé award ceremony to recognize outstanding mentor-protégé relationships.

Mentor-protégé relationships are varied. Businesses that have taken part in the Mentor-Protégé program include: construction, software, facility maintenance, consulting, architecture, and professional services.

To be eligible to apply as a mentor your firm must be a prime contractor on a GSA Schedule or GSA contracting vehicle, such as a BPA, IDIQ, or GWAC. If your business is large, that vehicle must include a permitted subcontracting plan as required by Federal Acquisition Regulation. A small business prime contractor is not required to have an approved subcontracting plan in place to qualify as a mentor.

As a mentor, you must be able to assure that you can offer developmental assistance to boost the capabilities of protégés to perform as:

• Contractors
• Subcontractors
• Suppliers

Call our attorneys at Malyszek & Malyszek for more information about the Mentor-Protégé Program.