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Bills Seek to Increase Opportunities for Women-Owned and Other Minority-Owned Businesses

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NDAA FY 2019 – What’s Ahead for Small Business

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Bill Jaffe
September 12, 2018
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Vivian Ling of the House Small Business Committee calls it a very, very modest proposal. Learn more about the changes here.
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On July 18, 2018, the House Small Business Committee approved H.R. 6369, the Expanding Contracting Opportunities for Small Business Act, and H.R. 6382, the Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management Act. Among other provisions important to women, the bills seek to increase opportunities for women-owned and other minority-owned businesses.

Regarding the news, Vivian Ling, House Small Business Committee – Majority stated:

“This is a very, very modest proposal to update the size formula from a 3-year look-back to a 5-year look-back. I discussed a number of alternatives with SBA, and after much discussion, this was the only option they were comfortable with.”

H.R. 6369 essentially takes three major actions. The first action is that option years are no longer included in the award price for sole source contracts.

To account for this fact, the maximum award prices were changed from $5M to $7M for contract opportunities assigned an SIC code for manufacturing and from $3M to $4M for all other contract opportunities. Exclusion of option years was applied to sole source contracts, those controlled by service-disabled veterans, women, and women in substantially underrepresented industries.

The second action is that the SBA is to notify the House Small Business Committee and the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee when it has established two programs: one to certify concerns of female small business owners, and one to certify concerns of service-disabled veteran small business owners.

This is a significant change requiring certification of “real” WOSBs. Right now the program is self-certified, except in cases using sole source contracts when the contracting officer is required to verify that the business is certified by one of the four designated WOSB certifiers.

The third program is that the GAO will carry out a study to ensure that sole source awards are properly classified and are being awarded to eligible firms. This report is to be delivered to Congress within 18 months after the certification programs begin. The SBA must also report to Congress with the actions it took following the GAO study.

H.R. 6382, otherwise known as the “Clarity on Small Business Participation in Category Management Act of 2018,” amends the Small Business Act to require the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to report certain information to the Congress and to the President, and for other purposes.

Specifically it requires reporting on:

(i) the total amount of spending government wide in such designation;

(ii) the dollar amount of contracts within such category awarded to each of the following—

(I) HUBZone small business concerns;

(II) small business concerns owned and controlled by women;

(III) small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; and

(IV) socially and economically disadvantaged small business concerns.

These changes are a big deal for small firms, especially WOSBs.

Related posts:

  1. Sole Source Contracts for Women-Owned Small Businesses
  2. Good News for Women-Owned Small Businesses
  3. The Important Role of Women-Owned Businesses
  4. Legislation Gives More Opportunities to Small Businesses
  5. WOSB Sole Source – It’s About Time
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The All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program

SBA had a well-established mentor-protégé program (MPP) for SBA 8(a) certified firms but lacked an MPP program for other small business concerns and specifically, one for specialized certified concerns such as WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB, & HubZone. The 2010 Jobs Act and 2013 NDAA gave SBA the authorization to address this by establishing an all-encompassing mentor-protégé program. Ms. Sandi Clifford, deputy director of the All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP), visited the Mid-Tier Advocacy (MTA) earlier this year to discuss the program. Here are some of the highlights of this candid and informative discussion: As Ms. Clifford explained, mentor services to protégés include: • Management and technical assistance (internal business management systems) • Financial assistance (in the form of equity investments and/or loans) • Contracting assistance (contracting processes, capabilities acquisitions and performance) • International trade education (learn how to export, international trade business plan, finding markets) • Business development assistance (strategy, finding contracting and partnership opportunities) • General and/or administrative assistance (business processes and support) As administrators of the program, SBA provides: • Central HQ as opposed to 8(a) distributive model • Online application – certify.sba.gov • Online course tutorial requirement • Annual review and evaluation • Template agreements, i.e., MPA (Mentor-Protégé Agreement) Other All-Small Mentor-Protégé Program (ASMPP) details: • A protégé may generally only have one mentor at a time; SBA may approve a second (two is the maximum) where no competition exists, or if the protégé registers under a new NAICS or otherwise requires new mentor skills.  • Both protégé and mentor must be for-profit (with exception of protégé being an agriculture cooperative). • A mentor may have no more than three protégés at same time (no lifetime limit). • A participant can be both a protégé and mentor at the same time, if there is no competition or conflict. • The ASMPP is self-certifying and is open to businesses who qualify as small in their primary NAICS code, or who are seeking business development assistance in a secondary NAICs where they also qualify as small.  • SBA will not authorize MPAs in second NAICS in which firm has never performed any work; or where firm would only bring “small” status to Mentor and nothing else. • Existing 8(a) firms in last 6 months of the 8(a) program may transfer their MPA to the ASMPP via the online application process. Coordinate with 8(a) office to fine tune the process but there is no reapplication required. • Application requirements include upload of business plan, but no financial statements or tax returns. • JV agreements: ASMPP will not review and approve joint venture agreements. How to apply for the ASMPP: • Applicants are required to register in the System for Award Management (SAM) prior to submitting their mentor/protégé application. • Complete your business profile in certify.SBA.gov. • Evaluate and select your mentor prior to applying. This is not a matching program. SBA will not find a mentor for you. • Begin the ASMPP application process. • Protégés and mentors must complete the online tutorial and have their certificate of completion and all other required documents ready for upload Thank you to Sandi Clifford, Deputy Director, All Small Mentor-Protégé Program, for this helpful overview. TAPE has mentored several small businesses over it’s life as a large business (we’re large in some NAICS codes, though still small in others) and it has been gratifying, satisfying, and integral to our success. As protégés ourselves, we have benefitted from working with some really classy large businesses, and have also had the experience of being a protégé and really getting no tangible benefits. We are currently working with two small businesses, and negotiating ASMPP agreements. You can learn more about the ASMPP on the SBA site. To join MTA and attend future events like this one, please visit www.midtier.org.
Bill Jaffe
August 23, 2017
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