OSBP Lunch & Learn: NASA Mentor-Protégé Relaunch
A Focused Review of the Enhanced MPP Application Process. November 7, 2024 | 1:00 P.M. ET
Explore PresentationExciting News: NASA Mentor-Protégé Program Relaunches!
We are thrilled to announce the relaunch of the NASA Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP), effective November 1, 2024! After undergoing a strategic review and temporary moratorium, the MPP has been revamped to better serve the needs of small businesses and align with NASA’s 2040 Vision.
What’s New?
Needs-Based Approach: The enhanced MPP will now focus on addressing NASA’s supply chain gaps, ensuring that the program meets mission-critical needs.
Strategic NAICS Codes: The program will prioritize subcontracts for protégés under specific NAICS codes that align with the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Technology Taxonomies, emphasizing areas such as Research & Development (R&D), Software/Information Technology, and Aerospace Manufacturing.
Inclusivity Expansion: All small businesses, including AbilityOne, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), are now eligible to participate as protégés, fostering a more diverse environment for collaboration with NASA.
The relaunch of the NASA Mentor-Protégé Program represents our commitment to supporting small businesses and driving innovation for NASA’s future missions.
Stay Connected!
For more information about the revamped MPP or the upcoming relaunch, please feel free to reach out to Mr. David E. Brock, NASA MPP Program Manager, at
MSFC-NASAMentorProtegeProgram@mail.nasa.gov or via phone (256)-544-7768.
Purpose of the NASA Mentor-Protege Program:
The NASA MPP encourages NASA prime contractors to assist eligible Protégés, thereby enhancing the Protégés’ capabilities to perform on NASA contracts and subcontracts, fostering the establishment of long-term business relationships between these entities and NASA prime contractors, and increasing the overall number of these entities that receive NASA contract and subcontract award
OSBP Mission and OverviewEligibility Requirements
The Mentor and Protégé must both meet the established eligibility requirements in order to participate in the MPP, as defined in NFS 1819.72 and summarized below. A list of approved mentors is available for review below.
Mentors
All approved Mentors are eligible to participate in the program and must resubmit a renewal application every 6 years to verify their continued eligibility. Mentor applications can be submitted at any time during the year with or without a Mentor-Protégé Agreement (MPA). In accordance with NFS 1819.72, a Mentor must be:
- A large prime contractor performing under a NASA contract with at least one approved Federal subcontracting plan, as required by FAR 19.7 (the Small Business Subcontracting Program), and
- Eligible for the receipt of Government contracts.
Protégés
To participate as a Protégé, an entity must meet one of the eligibility requirements as defined in NFS 1819.72 and must maintain that status for the life of the agreement. If the Protégé self-certifies that it meets the eligibility requirements, a separate written self-certification of its small business status must be provided with the MPA. (Note: If Protégé eligibility expires prior to the end of the agreement period, the agreement may still be approved for the remaining duration of the POP but must include the condition that any credit received is subject to the Protégé’s recertification.)
A Protégé may participate in the NASA MPP as many times as they would like. However, a Protégé may engage in only one NASA MPA at any given time. In accordance with NFS 1819.72, the following entities are eligible to be chosen as Protégés:
- Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs)
- Women-Owned Small Businesses (WOSBs)
- Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) concerns
- Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSBs)
- Service-Disabled Veteran–Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs)
- Historically Black College or University (HBCUs)
- Minority Serving Institutions (MSI)
- Small businesses with an active NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II contract
- Companies participating in the AbilityOne program
Benefits of Participation
The MPP has the ability to uniquely transform a small business or minority-serving institution and enhance its capabilities to win contracts and subcontracts as a direct result of its participation. Some of the potential benefits of the program include the following:
For Mentors:
- Develop long-term business relationships with small business concerns.
- Develop a qualified small business subcontracting base.
- Accrue credit toward small business subcontracting goals.
For Protégés:
- Receive relevant technical and developmental assistance.
- Qualify for sole-source contracts from Mentors.
For All Participants:
- Cultivate teaming opportunities with their partners to win new contracts and/or subcontracts.
- Engage the MPP as a marketing tool.
- Foster networking opportunities.
Types of Agreements
Credit Agreements
- In a credit-based MPA, a Mentor receives credit on a one-to-one basis toward its subcontracting goals. The credit is reported on the Individual Subcontract Report for the specific contract, as identified prior to the approval of the agreement.
Award Fee Program
- In the Award Fee Program, a Mentor is eligible to receive an award fee at the end of the agreement period based upon the Mentor’s performance in providing developmental assistance to its Protégé. Only NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II Protégés are eligible to participate with Mentors in the Award Fee Program.
NASA Responsibilities
- NASA Contracting Officer’s Representatives (CORs) act as liaisons between the Mentor and the Contracting Officer (CO). A signed endorsement letter from the COR must be added to the agreement package before submission to the CO.
- NASA COs are responsible for adding approved MPAs to existing contracts through a contract modification. A signed letter endorsing the MPA must be added to the complete package before submission to the relevant Center’s SBS.
- NASA Small Business Specialist (SBSs) are responsible for the overall administration and management of their respective Centers’ MPAs. As the Center’s MPP point of contact, the SBS is responsible for reviewing and endorsing all agreements received at the Center before forwarding the complete applications for final approval to the NASA MPP Program Manager (PM) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, AL. Additionally, the SBS ensures that all agreements endorsed by the Center fulfill the requirements of NFS 1819.72.
- NASA’s MPP Program Manager (PM) at MSFC coordinates and manages the program from a Headquarters perspective with participating Centers to ensure successful program execution.
- The MPP PM is responsible for overall NASA MPP administration, policy, and oversight. The MPP PM will review all Mentor applications and conduct a semi-annual MPA performance review that highlights the progress and accomplishments gained under the approved MPA.
More information on MPP small businesses can be found at https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-programs/sba-mentor-protege-program
Agreement Evaluation
The evaluation of all proposed agreements will be based on the following criteria:
- Perceived benefit and/or value of the agreement to NASA
- Merit of the developmental assistance to the Protégé
- Developmental assistance cost ratio
- Potential subcontracting opportunities available to the Protégé
- Utilization of HBCU/MSI, Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs), and SBA Business Development Centers (SBDCs)
- Proposed cost
How to Participate
Below, you will find the basic steps necessary to establish a NASA MPA.
- Locate a partner—Mentors and Protégés are required to establish their own counterparts. Each company has its own internal processes and procedures for locating partners. These processes are not mandated by NASA.
- Determine developmental assistance to be provided—Prior to filling out the agreement template, the Mentor must perform a needs assessment of the Protégé to determine what type of developmental assistance is required. Typical examples of developmental assistance may be related to technical transfer or business infrastructure. The dollar value associated with the technical transfer tasks should be approximately 70 percent of the proposed hours and cost. The remaining 30 percent may be related to business development tasks.
- Submit agreement for approval—The agreements are submitted to one of the NASA Centers for review and endorsement. If the agreement is endorsed at the Center level, it will be forwarded to the MPP PM at MSFC in Huntsville, AL, for final review and approval within 30 business days of receipt. The agreement officially begins on the date of the incorporation of the agreement into a contractual vehicle via a contract modification signed by the CO. Once the agreement begins, the mentor may start providing the developmental assistance outlined and reporting credit is received.
- Fulfill all reporting requirements—The reporting requirements for the NASA MPP include the following:
- Annual reports
- Semi-annual reviews
- Protégé post-agreement reports
Approved Mentors
(As of January 19, 2024)
a.i. Solutions, Inc. |
| Amentum Services, Inc. |
| Bastion Technologies, Inc. |
Bechtel National, Inc. |
Blue Origin |
Booz Allen Hamilton |
| CACI, Inc. – Federal |
| CH2M Hill, Inc. |
COLSA Corporation |
Deloitte & Touche, LLP |
| General Dynamics Information Technology, Inc. [GDIT] |
| Jacobs Technology, Inc |
Jones Edmunds & Associates, Inc. (New Mentor) |
| Leidos, Inc. |
L3Harris Technologies, Inc |
Lockheed Martin |
Maxar Space LLC |
| Northrop Grumman |
Peraton, Inc. (New Mentor) 540-200-1043 peratonsmallbusiness@peraton.com |
Raytheon Company |
REI Systems (New Mentor) |
Southwest Research Institute 210-522-6753 leopoldo.cardenas@swri.org |
Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. |
The Boeing Company |
Wyle Laboratories, Inc. d/b/a KBRWyle |
SBIR and STTR Phase II Companies
NASA SBIR Program
Phase Two Selections
NASA STTR
Phase Two Selections
FAQs
Q1: How many agreements may a Mentor and a Protégé have?
A: Mentor is not limited in the amount of NASA MPAs they may have at the same time. A Protégé may participate in the NASA MPP as many times as they would like. However, the Protégé may only be in one active NASA MPA at a time.
Q2: If I currently participate in another Federal agency’s MPP, may I participate in the NASA MPP at the same time?
A: The NASA MPP is completely separate from any other Federal agency’s MPP, and thus, mentors and protégés may participate in one or both at the same time, as long as the protégé has the resources to be mentored under the different programs.
Q3: How long is a mentor approved to participate in the NASA MPP?
A: A mentor approval letter is good for 6 years from the date of the letter. Six years after the date of approval, the mentor must resubmit its mentor application with the updated information and go through the approval process again.
If mentors are disbarred or suspended from Government contracts for any reason, their mentor approval is automatically withdrawn, and they may no longer participate in the NASA MPP.
Q4: Does a potential mentor need to apply by division, or is there a corporate- wide approval?
A: Mentor approval may be corporate-wide, provided that mentor applications are filled out with information at the corporate level. Once the application is submitted with corporate information and approved, all divisions of the company are eligible to participate as a mentor.
Q5: What should a mentor consider when selecting a protégé?
A: When selecting a protégé, a mentor should consider the following:
- An entity with whom a mentor has an established relationship
- An entity’s geographic proximity to the mentor
- An entity’s attitude regarding being mentored
- If assistance provided will align with the protégé’s strategic vision
- The synergy of the protégé’s and mentor’s capabilities
- Commitment to the agreement by both parties
- Stability of the protégé’s management and financial status
- The entity’s past performance
- Results of any contract/subcontract work between the mentor and protégé
- Subcontracting expectations
- An entity not currently receiving developmental assistance under an active NASA MPA
Q6: Where is the list of all NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II awardees?
A: The link to NASA SBIR/STTR Phase II companies may be found at https://sbir. nasa.gov/.
Q7: What is the Protégé application?
A: The protégé application is a separate application for potential protégé companies that details information about the company, including employee base and contracts received. However, it differs from the mentor application in that it is not submitted in advance of an agreement but is submitted concurrently with the agreement package. Any protégé applications that are submitted without a complete agreement package will not be kept on file and will have to be resubmitted with the agreement. The template for the protégé application can be found at OSBP – Protégé Application Template.
Q8: What are the submission deadlines to submit a mentor application and an MPA?
A: The NASA MPP PM accepts mentor applications at any time. Center SBSs are recommended to review and then either endorse or reject the agreements within 30 business days. The SBS will review, endorse, and forward the complete MPA package to the NASA MPP PM. Upon receipt, the PM will have 30 business days, excluding weekends and holidays, to review and approve the agreement.
Q9: What are the required documents that must be submitted with the agreement?
A: A complete MPA consists of a package containing the following documents:
- Letters of Endorsement. Signed letters of endorsement are required from the CO, the COR, and the Center SBS.
- A Mentor Cover Letter. The cover letter should outline the contents of the agreement and be signed by the mentor POC.
- A Protégé Application. The protégé application has to be developed using the template provided in Appendix A-3 of this guidebook. Please note that the protégé application should not be submitted in advance of an agreement submission.
- An MPA. Mentors will develop the MPA using the template provided in Appendix A-1 of this guidebook. The agreement must contain sufficient information on planned developmental assistance to allow NASA to evaluate the proposed development plan.
- A Technical Proposal. A detailed technical proposal that tracks easily to the cost proposal is imperative (e.g., the hours associated with each task described in the technical proposal should be visible in the cost proposal and traceable to the WBS).
- A Cost Proposal.
Q10: What is the agreement approval checklist
A: The agreement approval checklist is an internal form that is utilized by NASA to determine that all required elements are included in the agreement package. The checklist does not need to be submitted with the agreement but can be used as a reference.
Q11: What are the selection criteria for MPA approval?
A: All proposed agreements will be evaluated by the NASA Centers and NASA MPP PM based on the following criteria:
- Perceived benefit/value of the agreement to NASA
- Merit of the developmental assistance to the protégé
- Percentage of cost and hours associated with technical transfer
- Subcontracting opportunities available to the protégé
- Utilization of HBCUs/MSIs, PTACs, and SBDCs
- Proposed cost
Q12: What is the limit on the period of performance for an MPA?
A: An agreement may not exceed 36 months from the date the agreement begins.
Q13: If I previously participated in the NASA MPP prior to fiscal year 2007, will that affect my future participation?
A: No, being a prior participant from the MPP does not affect any future participation. Previous mentors are required to submit a mentor application before submitting any new agreements. Protégés are allowed to participate in the new NASA MPP as many times as they would like. Therefore, any participation does not affect future participation.
Q14: What are examples of technical transfer?
A: The developmental assistance provided under an MPA is expected to be at least 70 percent technical transfer (of proposed cost and hours), except for HBCUs/MSIs, where 30 percent may be related to technical transfer and the remaining 70 percent may be related to business infrastructure. Though this is by no means an exhaustive list, examples of technical transfer tasks may include the following:
- Engineering and Technical Assistance
- Aerospace manufacturing
- Research and development
- Accompanying Software/Information Technology.
- Tooling Design and Fabrication
- Quality Management Programs: ISO 9000, SEI/CMMI, AS9100
Q15: What do the following acronyms mean?
- Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO)
- Associate Administrator (AA)
- Award Fee Program Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA)
- Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)
- Contract Administration Office (CAO)
- Contracting Officer (CO)
- Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR)
- Contractor Furnished Equipment (CFE)
- Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
- Government Fiscal Year (GFY)
- Historically Black College and University (HBCU)
- Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone)
- Indefinite Delivery Order (IDO)
- Individual Subcontracting Report (ISR)
- Mentor-Protégé Agreement (MPA)
- Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP)
- Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
- NASA FAR Supplement (NFS)Point of Contact (POC)
- Program Manager (PM)
- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
- Other Direct Costs (ODCs)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Procurement Contracting Officer (PCO)
- Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC)
- Service-Disabled Veteran–Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
- Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
- Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
- Small Business Specialist (SBS)
- Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR)
- Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
If you have any further questions regarding the MPP please call 256-544-7768.
Templates and Forms
- NASA Mentor Application Template (DOC)
- NASA Mentor-Protégé Agreement Template (DOC)
- NASA Protégé Application Template (DOC)
- 2024 Agreement Checklist (DOC)
- 2024 MPP Guidebook (PDF)
Reporting Forms (Excel)
NASA Mentor-Protégé Contacts
NASA MPP Manager:
David E. Brock
256-544-7768
Ames Research Center (ARC)/Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC)
Christine L. Munroe
Phone: 650-604-4695
arc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Glenn Research Center (GRC)
Eunice J. Adams-Sipp
216-433-6644
grc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Headquarters Acquisition Branch
Kandace Chappell
301-286-8136
gsfc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Robert Watts
281-244-5811
jsc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Natalie Colvin
321-867-4773
ksc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Langley Research Center (LaRC)
Robert O. Betts
757-864-5717
LaRC-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
David Brock
256-544-0267
msfc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov
NASA Management Office at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Charles E. Bray, Jr.
818-354-5620
charles.e.bray@jpl.nasa.gov
NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC)
Troy E. Miller
228-813-6558
NSSC-SmallBusiness@mail.nasa.gov
Stennis Space Center (SSC)
Kay S. Doane
228-688-1720
ssc-smallbusiness@mail.nasa.gov