ACC’s Mentor Protégé (MP) Program was established to foster effective long-term working relationships between leaders of established companies, such as the ACC’s primary contract vendors, and emerging minority, veteran, and women-owned companies. The MP Program will allow Small Local Business Enterprises (SLBEs) and when applicable, Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs) to benefit from the knowledge and experience of the established firms.
The ultimate goal of the program is to:
- Provide developmental assistance to SLBEs primarily and whenever possible HUBs that will potentially increase their ability to contract directly with Austin Community College District, and/or
- Obtain subcontracting opportunities under an ACC contract.
Purpose and Objective
The purpose of the ACC MP Program is to identify and overcome barriers that may inhibit or restrict the success of a SLBE (or HUBs) by encouraging relationships with primary contractors/businesses, and to produce a broad base of high quality, competitive, and profitable SLBE (or HUBs) companies through incremental improvement in their respective business practices.
Mission
The ACC MP Program comprises these key components:
- Foster long-term relationships between prime contractors and SLBEs and HUBs;
- Increase the ability and capacity of SLBEs and HUBs to be awarded contracts by the college;
- Increase the overall participation of SLBEs and HUBs in subcontracting; and,
- Share expertise and skills with fellow business owners as a powerful way to focus on how people learn from each other.
Program Goals
The program goals of ACC’s MP Program are to:
- Connect new and emerging small business owners with more experienced small or big business owners while putting knowledge and hands-on experiences into practice;
- Develop the protégé company’s competency in areas of identified need;
- Increase the protégé company’s long-term stability in their industry; and,
- Increase the mentor company’s ability to identify potential firms that may be used as subcontractors for future contracts and increase its good faith efforts to utilize SLBEs and HUBs.
Eligibility
Both the mentor and protégé must complete an MP application and be willing to comply with the reporting requirements reflected in the MP agreement to be eligible for the program.
Mentor Considerations
- Whether the mentor is a registered bidder with ACC;
- Whether the mentor has extensive work experience and can provide developmental guidance in areas that meet the needs of the protégé. This could include, but is not limited to, business, financial, and personnel management; technical matters such as production, inventory control, and quality assurance; marketing; insurance; equipment and facilities; and/or other related resources;
- Whether the mentor is in “good standing” with ACC, the state of Texas and is not in violation of any state statutes, rules or governing policies;
- Whether the mentor has mentoring experience; and,
- Whether the mentor has a successful work history with government entities including city, county state or national entities.
Protégé Considerations
- Whether the protégé is certified as a SLBE;
- Whether the protégé has been operational for at least 1 year;
- Whether the protégé is willing to participate with a mentoring firm and has identified the type of guidance that is needed for its development;
- Whether the protégé is in “good standing” with ACC, the state of Texas and is not in violation of any state statutes, rules or governing policies; and,
- Whether the protégé is involved in a mentoring relationship with another supplier.
Matching ACC Qualified Mentors to Protégés
The P2P/SBDP Office will make every effort to assign mentors with protégés who:
- Complement one another in their respective industries;
- Are relatively close geographically (to facilitate meetings, etc.);
- Identify developmental needs on their application which the mentor can help develop; and,
- Ensure SLBEs have a chance to partner with larger companies that may not have an office located in the Austin area but service ACC.
Submit all applications to:
SBDP Office: SBDP@austincc.edu
Subject line: Mentor/Protégé Program