November 8, 2019

SBA: 5th Annual Mentor-Protege Conference Scheduled Next Week to Connect Small Businesses with Federal Contract Opportunities

The U.S. Small Business Administration will host its Mentor-Protégé Conference on November 12-13 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Arlington, Va. The conference will give small businesses access to guidance on federal contracting, face-to-face meetings and opportunities to team with larger businesses and graduates of the SBA’s 8(a) Business Development program. 

“It’s important that we make sure that more federal contracts get into the hands of small businesses that drive the nation’s economy and create jobs. These forums will go a long way in making sure that small businesses know how to leverage their companies and team up with viable partners to take their businesses to the next level,” said Dr. Donna Peebles, SBA Associate Administrator for Business Development.  

Some of the topics small businesses will learn about during these forums include: how to submit a winning joint venture proposal, how to build a strong Mentor-Protégé partnership, size and affiliation rules for joint ventures and how to market themselves to the federal government and pursue government contracting opportunities.   

The forums will also feature a discussion of strategic alliance and joint venture opportunities, a question and answer session, and face-to-face and business matchmaking sessions. Small disadvantaged businesses and 8(a) firms interested in attending must register at https://www.sbampp2019.com/en/c6ff. Over 300 businesses are expected to be in attendance.

Attendees will also get an overview of the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program – a tool of the SBA’s business development program that encourages mentors to team with a protégé or smaller firm to help them with management and technical assistance, financial assistance and access to joint ventures and federal contracting opportunities. 

For more information about the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program, visit: https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-programs/all-small-mentor-protege-program and to register and learn more about the Mentor-Protégé Matchmaking Conference, visit: https://www.sbampp2019.com/en/c6ff

This post was originally published here.