On February 5, 2015, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released its longawaited proposed rule to establish a mentor-protégé program for all small businesses. See 80 Fed. Reg. 6618 (Feb. 5, 2015). Federal contractors have been eagerly anticipating this rulemaking since Congress directed SBA, first in the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 and then in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, to expand its mentor-protégé program. Currently available only to participants in SBA’s 8(a) Program, SBA is now proposing to create a second mentor-protégé program open to all small businesses.

The proposed expansion of SBA’s mentor-protégé program heralds significant and beneficial changes for small and large businesses that work on set-aside projects. SBA is proposing to adopt a uniform approach to joint ventures between mentors and protégés for all of the small business programs, similar to the current rules for 8(a) joint ventures. SBA intends to impose more reporting and monitoring requirements to ensure joint ventures perform contracts consistent with SBA’s rules and meet the small business performance requirements, and suspension and debarment would be a potential ramification of noncompliance. SBA is also proposing to make it easier to qualify as a protégé firm, opening the new mentoring programs up to more small businesses. The proposed rules may also hasten the end of many federal mentorprotégé programs offered through other agencies.