DBB to discuss small business mentoring program this week

The Defense Business Board plans to meet online this week to talk about a mentor-protégé program it is assessing, according to a notice in today's Federal Register.

During the Aug. 5 virtual meeting, "the Board will receive an update from the Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) Assessment Study Task Group, discuss potential future work, and receive briefings from senior [Defense Department] government officials on acquisition/sustainment and data," the notice reads.

DOD's Mentor-Protégé Program "is the oldest continuously operating federal mentor-protégé program in existence," according to the department's office of small business programs. "Originally established in the midst of the First Gulf War, the MPP helps eligible small businesses expand their footprint in the defense industrial base."

Under the MPP, small businesses are partnered with larger companies, according to DOD. In recent years, the program "has successfully helped more than 190 small businesses fill unique niches and become part of the military's supply chain."