HOME  |  CONTENTS  |  DISCUSSIONS  DISCUSSION ARCHIVES  |  BLOG  |  QUICK-KITs|  STATES

Loading

How To Use the NDAA Pages

Back to NDAA Contents

TITLE VIII--ACQUISITION POLICY, ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT, AND RELATED MATTERS

Subtitle F—Industrial Base Matters

P. L. 114-

House Conference Report. 114-270

SEC. 861. Amendment to Mentor-Protege Program.

(a) In general.—Section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101–510; 104 Stat. 1607; 10 U.S.C. 2302 note) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b), by striking “designed to enhance” and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting the following: “designed to—

“(1) enhance the capabilities of disadvantaged small business concerns to perform as subcontractors and suppliers under Department of Defense contracts and other contracts and subcontracts; and

“(2) increase the participation of such business concerns as subcontractors and suppliers under Department of Defense contracts, other Federal Government contracts, and commercial contracts.”;

(2) in subsection (c)(2), by striking “to receive such assistance at any time” and inserting “concurrently, and the authority to enter into agreements under subsection (e) shall only be available to such concern during the 5-year period beginning on the date such concern enters into the first such agreement”;

(3) in subsection (d)—

(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively (and conforming the margins accordingly); and

(B) by inserting before clause (i) (as so redesignated) the following:

“(1) the mentor firm is not affiliated with the protege firm prior to the approval of that agreement; and

“(2) the mentor firm demonstrates that it—

“(A) is qualified to provide assistance that will contribute to the purpose of the program;

“(B) is of good financial health and character and does not appear on a Federal list of debarred or suspended contractors; and

“(C) can impart value to a protege firm because of experience gained as a Department of Defense contractor or through knowledge of general business operations and government contracting, as demonstrated by evidence that—”;

(4) by amending subsection (e)(1) to read as follows:

“(1) A developmental program for the protege firm, in such detail as may be reasonable, including—

“(A) factors to assess the protege firm's developmental progress under the program;

“(B) a description of the quantitative and qualitative benefits to the Department of Defense from the agreement, if applicable; and

“(C) goals for additional awards that protege firm can compete for outside the Mentor-Protege Program.”;

(5) in subsection (f)—

(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “business development,”;

(B) by striking paragraph (6); and

(C) by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (6);

(6) in subsection (g)—

(A) in paragraph (2)—

(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking “paragraphs (1) and (7) of subsection (f)” and inserting “paragraphs (1) and (6) of subsection (f) (except as provided in subparagraph (D))”;

(ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking “under subsection (l)(2)”; and

(iii) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(D) The Secretary may not reimburse any fee assessed by the mentor firm for services provided to the protege firm pursuant to subsection (f)(6) or for business development expenses incurred by the mentor firm under a contract awarded to the mentor firm while participating in a joint venture with the protege firm.”; and

(B) in paragraph (3)(B)(i), by striking “subsection (f)(7)” and inserting “subsection (f)(6)”;

(7) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting “(15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.)” after “Small Business Act”;

(8) in subsection (j)—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “September 30, 2015” and inserting “September 30, 2018”; and

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking “September 30, 2018” and inserting “September 30, 2021”;

(9) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection (n);

(10) by inserting after subsection (k) the following new subsections:

“(l) Report by mentor firms.—To comply with section 8(d)(7) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(7)), each mentor firm shall submit a report to the Secretary not less than once each fiscal year that includes, for the preceding fiscal year—

“(1) all technical or management assistance provided by mentor firm personnel for the purposes described in subsection (f)(1);

“(2) any new awards of subcontracts on a competitive or noncompetitive basis to the protege firm under Department of Defense contracts or other contracts, including the value of such subcontracts;

“(3) any extensions, increases in the scope of work, or additional payments not previously reported for prior awards of subcontracts on a competitive or noncompetitive basis to the protege firm under Department of Defense contracts or other contracts, including the value of such subcontracts;

“(4) the amount of any payment of progress payments or advance payments made to the protege firm for performance under any subcontract made under the Mentor-Protege Program;

“(5) any loans made by mentor firm to the protege firm;

“(6) all Federal contracts awarded to the mentor firm and the protege firm as a joint venture, designating whether the award was a restricted competition or a full and open competition;

“(7) any assistance obtained by the mentor firm for the protege firm from one or more—

“(A) small business development centers established pursuant to section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648);

“(B) entities providing procurement technical assistance pursuant to chapter 142 of title 10, United States Code; or

“(C) historically Black colleges or universities or minority institutions of higher education;

“(8) whether there have been any changes to the terms of the mentor-protege agreement; and

“(9) a narrative describing the success assistance provided under subsection (f) has had in addressing the developmental needs of the protege firm, the impact on Department of Defense contracts, and addressing any problems encountered.

“(m) Review of report by the Office of Small Business Programs.—The Office of Small Business Programs of the Department of Defense shall review the report required by subsection (l) and, if the Office finds that the mentor-protege agreement is not furthering the purpose of the Mentor-Protege Program, decide not to approve any continuation of the agreement.”; and

(11) in subsection (n) (as so redesignated)—

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking “means a business concern that meets the requirements of section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)) and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto” and inserting “has the meaning given such term under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)”;

(B) in paragraph (2)—

(i) by striking “means:” and inserting “means a firm that has less than half the size standard corresponding to its primary North American Industry Classification System code, is not owned or managed by individuals or entities that directly or indirectly have stock options or convertible securities in the mentor firm, and is—”;

(ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking “the severely disabled” and inserting “severely disabled individuals”;

(iii) in subparagraph (G), by striking “Small Business Act.” and inserting “Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(p)); or”; and

(iv) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(H) a small business concern that—

“(i) is a nontraditional defense contractor, as such term is defined in section 2302 of title 10, United States Code; or

“(ii) currently provides goods or services in the private sector that are critical to enhancing the capabilities of the defense supplier base and fulfilling key Department of Defense needs.”;

(C) by amending paragraph (8) to read as follows:

“(8) The term ‘severely disabled individual’ means an individual who is blind (as defined in section 8501 of title 41, United States Code) or a severely disabled individual (as defined in such section).”; and

(D) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(9) The term ‘affiliated’, with respect to the relationship between a mentor firm and a protege firm, means—

“(A) the mentor firm shares, directly or indirectly, with the protege firm ownership or management of the protege firm;

“(B) the mentor firm has an agreement, at the time the mentor firm enters into a mentor-protege agreement under subsection (e), to merge with the protege firm;

“(C) the owners and managers of the mentor firm are the parent, child, spouse, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, or first cousin of an owner or manager of the protege firm;

“(D) the mentor firm has, during the 2-year period before entering into a mentor-protege agreement, employed any officer, director, principal stock holder, managing member, or key employee of the protege firm;

“(E) the mentor firm has engaged in a joint venture with the protege firm during the 2-year period before entering into a mentor-protege agreement, unless such joint venture was approved by the Small Business Administration prior to making any offer on a contract;

“(F) the mentor firm is, directly or indirectly, the primary party providing contracts to the protege firm, as measured by the dollar value of the contracts; and

“(G) the Small Business Administration has made a determination of affiliation or control under subsection (h).”.

(b) Application.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply to a mentor-protege agreement made pursuant to section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101–510; 104 Stat. 1607; 10 U.S.C. 2302 note) entered into after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.

(2) RETROACTIVITY OF REPORT AND REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—The amendments made by subsection (a)(10) shall apply to a mentor-protege agreement made pursuant to section 831 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101–510; 104 Stat. 1607; 10 U.S.C. 2302 note) entered into before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016.

Amendment to Mentor-Protege Program (sec. 861)

The House bill contained a provision (sec. 831) that would codify the Department of Defense Mentor-Protege Pilot Program in Title 10 United States Code as a permanent program.

The Senate amendment contained a provision (sec. 877) that would extend the authorization for Department of Defense Mentor-Protege Pilot Program by 1 year.

The House recedes with an amendment that would clarify the eligibility requirements, forms of assistance, extension of the authorization and reporting requirements.

The conferees note that the Congressionally-mandated Mentor-Protege program is intended to support efforts of small and disadvantaged businesses to partner with established defense suppliers to improve their ability to deliver needed technologies and services to the Department of Defense. The committee is concerned that the program may not always be executed to most effectively achieve mandated goals. Analysis of this program indicates that in some cases, protege firms participating in this program had received millions of dollars in federal prime contract awards prior to the establishment of their Mentor-Protege agreements, indicating they may have possessed sufficient ability to market their goods and services to federal customers without the need for additional developmental assistance.

The conferees direct the Secretary of Defense to report to the House Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Armed Services, within 90 days of the enactment of this Act, on changes to program policy and metrics that would ensure the program meets the goal of enhancing the defense supplier base in the most effective and efficient manner. The report shall include recommendations to better direct the developmental assistance to the most appropriate disadvantaged small business concerns, including nontraditional defense contractors currently providing goods or services in the private sector that are most critical to enhancing the capabilities of the defense supplier base and fulfilling key Department needs. The report shall describe how the Department will strengthen the review processes of program investments to ensure activities proposed in developmental plans are necessary for the protege's development, taking into account the protege's reported prime contract and subcontract awards, and that mentors are obtaining the best value for all reimbursed activities. The report shall also assess alternate models for incentives for participation by mentor companies in the program other than direct reimbursement, and shall detail program metrics that would enable the Department to evaluate the program's return on investment and the actual impact of the development assistance on the protege's ability to support DOD needs. The conferees recommend that the Secretary ensure that the annual reports generated by the Defense Contract Management Agency are sufficient to be used to evaluate team performance and mentor reimbursement.

Further, the conferees direct the U.S. Comptroller General of the United States, within 1 year of enactment of this Act, report to the House Committee on Armed Services and the Senate Committee on Armed Services, with an assessment of the efficacy of the DOD Mentor-Protege pilot program, recommend ways to harmonize the DOD Mentor-Protege pilot program with the Small Business Administration's Mentor-Protege program, and discuss whether the reimbursement mechanism for the DOD Mentor-Protege pilot program should be maintained.


House Report 114-102 to accompany H. R. 1735 as it was reported out of the House Armed Services Committee.

Section 831--Codification and Amendment of Mentor-Protege Program

This section would revise and codify section 831 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101-510).

The committee is aware that the Department of Defense Mentor-Protege Program was established in 1991 to allow small businesses, or proteges, to partner with large companies, or mentors, under individual, project-based agreements to position those proteges to better compete for prime contract or subcontract awards. Mentors benefit by expanding their sourcing plans to these small firms; proteges benefit by developing needed business and technical capabilities to diversify their customer base. Past reviews by the Government Accountability Office have indicated that ``the Mentor-Protege Program was a valuable experience and enhanced business development'' and that ``[n]inety-three percent of responding proteges reported the Mentor-Protege Program enhanced, at least to some degree, their firms'' overall capabilities.'' The committee believes that the Mentor-Protege Program is a valuable tool for the Department of Defense and is helpful in creating a strong foundation to see it used more broadly by the military services and agencies, and improve linkages between small, non-traditional contractors and larger, mainstream defense contractors.


Senate Report 114-49 to accompany S. 1376 as it was reported out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Extension of the Department of Defense Mentor-Protege pilot program (sec. 877)

The committee recommends a provision that would extend by 1 year the authority in section 831(j) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (Public Law 101-510).

ABOUT  l CONTACT