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The Flood Gates Are Opened: SBA’s Mentor-Protégé Program Expands to All Small Business Concerns

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 07.22.16

On July 25, 2016, SBA will publish its final rule, effective 30 days from publication, establishing a mentor-protégé program for all small business concerns, which will be separate from, but similar to, SBA’s current 8(a) Business Development program. As we will elaborate on further next week in a blog and a webinar thereafter, the government-wide program will significantly expand the pool of companies that can qualify as protégés and for which mentors have unique investment and joint venture opportunities to leverage on set-aside procurements.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.23.26

Protester Beware: Recent GAO Decision Suggests Traditional “Reasonable Possibility” Prejudice Standard May Be Evolving

It is well established that “[c]ompetitive prejudice is an essential element of every viable protest.” Yet, for decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has tempered this requirement with two critical corollaries: protesters need only demonstrate a “reasonable possibility” that they were prejudiced by an agency’s actions, and GAO “will resolve doubts regarding prejudice in favor of the protester.” These principles have been consistent features of GAO’s bid protest jurisprudence for more than 30 years. See, e.g., United Int’l Eng'g, Inc., B-245448, Jan. 29, 1992, 71 CPD ¶ 177....