The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), has operated its Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP) under the authority of Federal Register (68 FR67871, December 4, 2003 (as amended at 71 FR 25775, May 2, 2006). The primary goal focused on motivating and encouraging large business prime contractor firms to provide mutually beneficial developmental assistance to small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business, HUBZone small business, small-disadvantaged business, and women-owned small business. As a secondary goal of the DHS MPP, the DHS OSDBU designed it to improve the performance of contracts and subcontracts; foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between large prime contractors and small business subcontractors; supporting new entrants and strengthen subcontracting opportunities and accomplishments.
As of March 1, 2023, OSDBU is not accepting new applications until further notice.
In its 20th year and after the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023 codification, DHS-OSDBU is significantly changing the Program with improvements to include:
- Including HBCUs and MIs as protégés.
- Redefining mentor and protégé incentives (large business with HBCU/MI vs. small business).
- Incorporating New Entrants
- Narrowing eligibility by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code(s) for mentor-protégé.
- Incorporating clearer defined evaluation criteria guidelines in solicitations.
- Evaluating and redefining the term “credit” as a mentor’s incentive for subcontracting reports (i.e., eSRS).
Duly, the DHS OSDBU is encouraging both small and large businesses (operating in the federal marketplace), which includes former/current and interested participants, to comment on the attached survey, no later than Friday, September 15, 2023.
There is no fee for the DHS Mentor-Protégé Program. Please report any fee related inquiries and questions regarding the DHS MPP to [email protected].
