ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD html 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Set-Aside Alert - 10-20-17 - Q&A with SBA s John W. Klein on mentor-proteges </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> Oct 20 2017 </i> </font> </left> </td> <td>&nbsp;&nbsp; </td> <td> <FONT FACE="verdana,tahoma,arial" SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000"> <right><i> Next issue: Nov 3 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> exclusive: </h2> <h1> Q&A with SBA s John W. Klein on mentor-proteges </h1> <!--<h4> </h4> --> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Small Business Administration in October 2016 launched the All Small Mentor-Protege Program (ASMPP) for all small businesses in federal contracting. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It has raised some issues for 8(a) Business Development Program participants, who can choose between ASMPP and the 8(a) Mentor-Protege Program (8(a)MPP). </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Set-Aside Alert</i> exchanged emails with John W. Klein, SBA s associate general counsel for procurement law, to clarify some of the issues. </p> <p> <b><i>SET-ASIDE ALERT: </i></b>What are the rules for 8(a) joint ventures formed between mentors and proteges? </p> <p> <b>KLEIN:</b> Any joint venture for an 8(a) set-aside contract must be approved by SBA prior to award. That requirement also applies to all mentor-protege joint ventures. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; So a joint venture between a protege and its SBA-approved mentor (whether the mentor-protege relationship was approved through the ASMPP or the 8(a)MPP) must be approved by SBA if the joint venture is for an 8(a) set-aside contract. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And a joint venture for a non-8(a) contract between a protege and its mentor (whether ASMPP or 8(a)MPP) is not approved by SBA. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; So, it is the contract that a mentor-protege joint venture seeks that matters, not how the mentor-protege relationship was approved. </p> <p> SET-ASIDE ALERT So, if an 8(a) firm is a protege under the ASMPP or the 8(a)MPP, and it forms a joint venture with its mentor to pursue an 8(a) contract, the joint venture must get SBA approval prior to award. </p> <p> <b>KLEIN:</b> Correct. Every joint venture that is formed to pursue an 8(a) set-aside contract opportunity must be approved by SBA - that applies equally to any joint venture between an 8(a) firm that is a protégé and its SBA-approved mentor (and it applies regardless of how the mentor-protege relationship was approved, either through the ASMPP or the 8(a)MPP). </p> <p> <b><i>SET-ASIDE ALERT: </i></b>Is the joint venture in the above case to be approved by different offices of the SBA, depending on which mentor-protege program it originated in? I ve heard that reviews at SBA Headquarters are faster than those at district offices. </p> <p> <b>KLEIN:</b> Every joint venture to perform an 8(a) set-aside contract must be approved by the SBA district office that services the 8(a) participant to the joint venture. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With a mentor-protege joint venture, the same rule applies: i.e., a joint venture between an 8(a) protégé and its SBA-approved mentor must be approved by the SBA district office that services the 8(a) protégé participant. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; SBA Headquarters does not review joint venture agreements. SBA Headquarters reviews and approves mentor-protege agreements for the ASMPP. And yes, the time that SBA takes to approve a mentor-protege agreement is much faster for the ASMPP (with an average of about eight working days) than it is under the 8(a)MPP. </p> <p> <b><i>SET-ASIDE ALERT: </i></b>Also, if an 8(a) firm is a protege under the ASMPP or 8(a)MPP and forms a joint venture with its mentor to pursue a non-8(a) contract, the joint venture does not need SBA approval. </p> <p> <b>KLEIN:</b> Correct. But, the same rules (for example, requiring the project manager to be from the 8(a) protégé, etc.) apply. </p> <p> <b><i>SET-ASIDE ALERT: </i></b>What about the exclusion from affiliation for 8(a)s in the ASMPP or 8(a) MPP? </p> <p> <b>KLEIN:</b> For a current 8(a) participant, there is no difference in what you get from either the ASMPP or the 8(a)MPP: you get an exclusion from affiliation for all (set-aside) contracts (8(a); small business set-aside; HUBZone, WOSB, SDVOSB) so that a joint venture between a protege and its SBA-approved mentor (whether approved through 8(a)MPP or ASMPP) is small if the protege firm independently qualifies as small. </p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (WOSB is the women-owned small business program, and SDVOSB is for service-disabled veteran-owned small firms.) </p> <p> <b>More information:</b><br> See 8(a) mentor-protege story in the Aug. 18, 2017 edition of <i>Set-Aside Alert</i>: <a href="/08-18-17/story1.htm">here</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> SBA s flagship 8(a) program added 7% more participants in 7 months </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story2.htm"> <h4> Q&A with SBA s John W. Klein on mentor-proteges </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story3.htm"> <h4> Fewer small firms win US contracts </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story4.htm"> <h4> HUBZones get disaster credit </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story5.htm"> <h4> New applications for 8(a) halted until Nov. 15 </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="story6.htm"> <h4> NAICS update impacting size standards, WOSB industries </h4> </a> </p> <p> <a href="column.htm"> <h4> Column: Cybersecurity Compliance Deadline Looms for Government Contractors </h4> </a> </p> <p> <h4><a href="inside.htm"> Washington Insider: </h4> </p> <p> <h4> <ul> <li> US Supreme Court declines to hear 8(a) challenge <li> GAO against NDAA item <li> CMS now using OASIS </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>