The Department of Energy should improve management of its Mentor-Protégé Program, states a DOE Inspector General report released yesterday finding that some small businesses in the program did not need its assistance. For example, many small businesses had already received many Federal awards before joining the program, and some agreements lasted for “excessive” durations, the IG report states. “These findings, coupled with the practical limitations on the number of available Program slots, led us to conclude that small businesses most suitable for inclusion may not have had the opportunity to participate,” the report states.
The Mentor-Protégé Program aims to provide developmental assistance to small businesses to prepare them to better perform in contracts at Department sites. But the review found that “thirteen firms that were permitted to participate in the program even though they already appeared to possess the capabilities typically developed by small businesses, prior to selection as protégés.” Additionally six agreements exceeded the recommended six-year term for the program. And in four cases “protégés that successfully graduated from the Program at one Department site were permitted to subsequently enter into similar mentor-protégé agreements at other sites.”
The issues occurred because DOE and prime contractors didn’t have sufficient controls in place for oversight of the program, according to the IG. “Specifically, mentors did not always give adequate consideration to protégés’ existing capabilities when selecting them for the Program,” the report states. “In addition, the Department lacked sufficient policies to assist mentors in the solicitation and selection of protégés, did not monitor the progress of each protégé throughout the duration of the agreement and did not maintain an adequate tracking system to accurately account for all protégés.” The Department agreed with the report’s recommendations and said in a response to the IG that it is planning corrective actions to address the issues.
