For many small businesses, gaining a foothold into the lucrative field of government contracting requires a team effort. However, identifying the right business partnership is rarely as easy as thumbing through the Yellow Pages and not all such arrangements are created equal.

But the Flint & Genesee Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) stands ready to help business owners understand the ins and outs of “joint ventures,” “teaming arrangements” and “mentor protégé programs”, as they relate to government contracting.

On Jan. 25, PTAC is hosting the free webinar – Breaking Down Teaming, Joint Ventures, and Mentor Protégé – to instruct businesses on how to best to build their firms’ capacity when pursuing government contacts.

“A lot of the procurement contracts on the federal side are larger now,” said Jasmine McKenney, PTAC program director. “Partnering is way to give smaller businesses more capacity to be able to compete for those federal contracts. But people tend to use the words (teaming, joint ventures and mentor protégé) interchangeably. There are some key differences.”

For instance, a small business that is participating in the SBA All Small Mentor-Protégé program can get valuable business development help from their mentors in several areas, including:

• Guidance on internal business management systems, accounting, marketing, manufacturing, and strategic planning
• Assistance navigating federal contract bidding, acquisition and the federal procurement process
• Education about international trade, strategic planning, and finding markets
• Business development, including strategy and identifying contracting and partnership opportunities
• General and administrative assistance, like human resource sharing or security clearance support

The mentor and protégé may also form a joint venture, under SBA rules, as a small business for any small business contract, provided the protégé individually qualifies as small. The joint venture must be separately identified with its own name, Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number, and Commercial And Government Entity (CAGE) number in the System for Award Management.

The joint venture may then pursue any type of set-aside contract for which the protégé qualifies, including contracts set aside for 8(a), service-disabled veteran-owned, women-owned, and HUBZone businesses.

In short, partner agreements provide opportunities for both larger and small firms, McKenney said.

“The benefits of these collaborations don’t flow one way,” she said. “And with the impending distribution of infrastructure funding, we’re trying to give clients the all the tools they’ll need in order to compete.”

The Jan. 25 webinar will be held from 9-11 a.m. Register Now