FY25 Army MPP_ BAA Solicitation.docx

Broad Agency Announcement (BAA)

ARMY MPP-I-25-XXX

Department of the Army – Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) Mentor Protégé Program (MPP)

16 July 2025

I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

A. Federal Agency Name: Department of the Army Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP) B. Broad Agency Announcement Title: Fiscal Year 2025-26 Department of the Army, OSBP, Mentor Protégé Program C. Broad Agency Announcement Number: BAA ARMY-MPP-I-25-xx D. Broad Agency Type: This is a 2-Step Broad Agency Announcement

II. MENTOR-PROTÉGÉ PROGRAM OUTLINE

A. Introduction: The Army Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) Office is seeking eligible Mentor Firms for participation in the Department of Defense (DoD) MPP in accordance with Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations (DFARS) 219.71 and DFARS Appendix I (as amended by DFARS Change 01/17/2025) through this Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). This BAA reflects a two step process. Step 1, Submit white papers in accordance with directives listed in Section III. Step 2. Upon determination that the white paper is consistent with the intent of this BAA, the mentor will be solicited to submit technical and cost proposals subject to availability of program funds. Formal Proposals should not be submitted against this BAA.

B. Program Purpose: The DoD Mentor-Protégé Program provides incentives for major DoD contractors, hereby referred to as Mentor Firms, to furnish small business concerns, hereby referred to as Protégé Firms, with assistance designed to: Enhance the capabilities of Protégé Firms to perform as subcontractors and suppliers under DoD contracts and other contracts and subcontracts; Increase participation of Protégé Firms as subcontractors and suppliers under DoD contracts, other Federal Government contracts, and commercial contracts; and foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between Protégé Firms and their Mentor Firms. Under this program, approved Mentor Firms will enter Mentor Protégé Agreements (MPAs) with eligible Protégé Firms and provide technical and developmental assistance to the Protégé.

C. Mentor Firm Eligibility: DFARS Appendix I paragraph I-102 details Mentor Firm eligibility. Any Mentor Firm approved by the DoD MPP is eligible to apply to the Army MPP. If you are not currently approved by DoD as a mentor, you can still submit a white paper, but you must be approved before you can submit a proposal. To apply go to MPP Portal (osd.mil) for the application and instruction for submittal.

D. Protégé Firm Eligibility: DFARS Appendix I paragraph I-102 details Protégé Firm eligibility.

E. Allowable Developmental Assistance: DFARS Appendix I paragraph I-106 contains details on allowable developmental assistance. Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU), Minority Serving Institutions (MSI), APEX Accelerators, Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP), Women’s Business Centers (WBC), Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) or Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) are the subcontractor(s) that may be utilized to support of MPAs.

F. Goals and Objectives: The Army’s mission is to fight and win our Nation’s wars by providing prompt, sustained land dominance across the full range of military operations and spectrum of conflict in support of combatant commanders. We do this by organizing, equipping, and training forces for the conduct of prompt and sustained combat operations on land. Our goal for the Mentor-Protégé Program is to engage industries to shape and expand the small business industrial base to support the Army’s mission. We are seeking mentor-protégé agreements that will assist protégés in enhancing their capabilities to provide value-added support to the Army as it transforms itself into a force capable of dominating at every point on the spectrum of operations.

G. The Army Mentor-Protégé Program provides incentives to assist eligible Protégés in enhancing their capabilities to support Army priority areas and technology emphasis areas while delivering developmental assistance that contains a strong technical component or focuses on innovative, state of the art technology, consistent with the science and technology emphasis areas.

1. Interested Mentors and Protégés are responsible for submitting white papers and proposals relevant to the technological transfer emphasis areas such as manufacturing, and research and development.

2. Aligns with the DoD or Army’s strategic plan (see list of reference documents in Part 6 below).

3. Enhances or accelerates development of an Army capability.

4. Directly supports a DoD or Army Program of Record, to include but not limited to reducing development costs and/or sustainment costs of fielded systems; or

5. Increases the likelihood of success in transition and/or commercialization efforts of a DoD or Army developed and licensed technology under a Patent Licensing Agreement (PLA), a technology co-developed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), or a technology funded under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), or Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) programs.

6. Mentors and Protégés are invited to review the following reference documents to learn more about the Army’s emphasis areas:

a.) National Defense Strategy b.) Army Modernization Strategy c.) Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering d.) Examples of emphasis areas

· Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (supply chain management, logistics coordination, target identifications and simulation)

· Advanced Materials and Manufacturing (additive manufacturing)

· Autonomy (unmanned systems, drones, ground vehicle capabilities)

· Chemical and Biological (detection, defense)

· Cyber (biometric authentication, secure communications)

· Electronics (microelectronics, Very-Large-Scale Integration (VLSI))

· Electronic Warfare (jamming, spoofing)

· Energy

· Human Performance (wearables)

· Immersive (augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality)

· Network Technologies (antennas, radio frequency, communications systems)

· Contested Logistics

H. Approach: The Army Mentor Protégé Program has three types of agreements: Reimbursable, Credit, and Hybrid. Reimbursable agreements are funded by the DoD OSBP Mentor Protégé Program. Credit agreements are approved and managed by Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA). Hybrid agreements are a combination of the previous two. All contracts shall be invoiced and paid monthly and must include a Monthly Status Report (MSR). The total Period of Performance (POP) for any agreement is three years (36 months). Standard agreements consist of a twelve (12) month base year contract with two twelve (12) month option year, which may be executed at the discretion of the Army MPP office. For Hybrid agreements, please note which year you would like to be credit and which years you would like to be reimbursable. The amount provided for individual contract awards will vary depending on the complexity of the proposal, but shall not exceed the regulatory amount set forth in DFARS, Appendix I.

I. Cyber Security: The Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) Project Spectrum (http://www.projectspectrum.io) is the definitive platform for cybersecurity information, resources, tools, and training for small businesses that are part of the defense and national security supply chain. Tasks to meet NIST SP 800-171 evaluations requirements or achieve Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). CMMC training will not be reimbursed. If a proposed development plan includes cyber training and development resources, a waiver must be obtained from the DOD Mentor Protégé Program Office. Absent the waiver, training will not be reimbursed.

III. The White Paper Step 1: White Paper Submission: White Papers may be submitted for consideration at any time. Evaluation of these white papers will occur throughout the year starting in July.

A. Submission of White Papers:

1. Mentor Firms shall email the White Paper to Andrew Heisler, Mentor-Protégé Contracting Officer at andrew.c.heisler.civ@army.mil, Pamela Monroe , Army OSBP Mentor –Protégé Program Manager at pamela.l.monroe8.civ@army.mil, and the Move America organization box at ap@moveamerica.org (SUBJECT: FY25-26 Mentor Protégé Program White Paper).

2. The White Papers shall not exceed fifteen (15) pages. Pages shall be 8 ½” x 11”, single sided, one-inch margins with no font smaller than 12-point (unless formatted differently in provided templates). Less than 12-point font is allowable for diagrams. You may delete the instructions on the template for your submittal.

3. The purpose of the White Paper is to preclude proposed developmental assistance that is not consistent with the Army’s program objectives and prevent unnecessary proposal development costs on behalf of the Mentor.

4. The Government will create an individual solicitation for each proposal, after a White Paper is selected for receiving a solicitation by the Director of the Army Office of Small Business Programs.

5. The White Paper’s proposed pricing shall be valid for 180 calendar days.

6. Movie and sound file attachments, URL Links, or other additional files, will not be accepted.

7. Notification to Offerors: All Offerors will receive an email acknowledging receipt of their White Paper submissions. Debriefings for White Paper submissions will not be provided.

B. Content of White Papers: The White Paper contains eight sections as follows:

Section A - Introduction (include Mentor and Protégé contact information) Provide a summary about the Mentor Firm including a company profile, volume of DoD/Army contracts, and accomplishments under their Small Business programs.

Indicate whether the Mentor Firm has one or more DoD contracts with an active small business subcontracting plan. Identify and describe the Mentor Firm's qualifications, capabilities, experience with small business assistance, expertise in related technical areas, and capacity for achieving the proposed agreement objectives. Identify and describe the Mentor Firm’s past performance, if any, in the DoD and Army Mentor- Protege program. Include all past and active Mentor-Protégé Agreements and proposed agreements currently being considered (indicate agency). Identify any past Nunn-Perry awards and/or any significant mentoring accomplishments.

Section B - Description of Protégé Company Provide a summary about the company, including the company profile, number of employees, historical and recent activities, and accomplishments. Include a description of the company’s ability to participate in the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program without impairing the company’s day-to-day operations (i.e., business management, revenue stream). Include current and previous participation in a Mentor Protégé Program if applicable.

Section C - Description of Mentor Current and past relationship with the Protégé Provide mentor’s vision for protégé company after Mentor Protégé Program participation and what benefits each will achieve through participation in the program.

Section D - Description of Approach Describe which specific Army Priority this agreement addresses, the team, business, and infrastructure assistance taskings with timeline, and technology transfer taskings with timeline. Engineering and technical assistance to the Protégé must equate to at least 50% of the total proposed effort.

Section E - Developmental effort by subcontractor Provide name and POC of authorized subcontractor(s) as well as a description of the developmental assistance task to be performed. Anticipated work effort(s) by the authorized subcontractor(s) must be a minimum of 5% of the total proposed contract value

Section F - Benefit of Technology Transfer to the Army Identify and describe how the overall anticipated developmental assistance (Engineering and technical assistance (technology transfer) and general business development assistance) to the Protégé Firm will benefit the Army’s priority area.

General business development assistance includes organizational management, financial management, personnel management, marketing, and overall business planning. Engineering and technical assistance includes production, inventory control, manufacturing, test and evaluation, and quality assurance or specific technology that provides a benefit to an Army Program Manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) or Commander. (Include one page affirmation memo)

Affirmation Memorandum - The Mentor is required to provide proof of support from an existing Army Program Office or Technical Advisor. This document must affirm that the development program designed to strengthen a qualified small-disadvantaged business concern address a gap or interest of that program office. This memo is not included in the 15-page count.

The Affirmation Memorandum, on Agency letterhead, must provide:

1. Contact information for the acknowledging activity representative,

2. A statement that the developmental assistance proposed is of benefit to DOD, Army or the program office in terms of filling a gap or interest.

3. Signed at the GS15/COL level

4. The Affirmation Memorandum is not an additional channel to promote mentor and protégé accomplishments. Mentor and Protégé capabilities and accomplishments should only be mentioned as evidence of how those capabilities and accomplishments contribute to expanding the industrial base of a small-disadvantaged business concern and are also tied to advancing Army priority and technology emphasis areas

Section G - Anticipated Mentor subcontracting

The Mentor must clearly articulate the roles and responsibilities the subcontractor will provide in this agreement.

Section H - Pricing ROM Complete the provided spreadsheet and include a copy of your DCAA rate approval and verification of a DCMA approved accounting system. Approval letter not included in the 15-page count. Do not change any formulas in the spreadsheet.

1. Provide a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost estimates including a breakout by a) Cost Estimate by Year and b) Cost Estimate by Developmental Assistance Type and by Task Performer. The estimate shall identify the corresponding period of performance for the proposed developmental assistance for each contract year. The Developmental Assistance Type shall include, as a minimum, a breakout by both engineering and technical assistance and general business development assistance for each proposed contract year. The estimate shall include: (1) Mentor labor cost rolled up (all cost elements without fee/profit), (2) travel/Other Direct Costs (ODCs), including an estimate for hosting one Mentor Protégé workshop per agreement and (3) authorized subcontractor total(s), for each proposed contract year.

a. Developmental assistance provided under an approved Mentor-Protégé Agreement is distinct from, and must not duplicate, any effort that is the normal and expected product of the award and administration of the Mentor firm’s subcontracts. Mentor firm costs that are eligible for reimbursement are set forth in DFARS Appendix I.

b. The Minimum amount of scientific and technical assistance is 50%

2. The monetary number of individual awards will vary according to the complexity of the effort and cannot exceed the regulatory yearly amount as set forth in the DFARS, Appendix I.

3. White Papers more than $600,000 total per year are required to submit additional justification and demonstrate that the return on investment and value-added benefits to the Army. Not included in the 15-page count.

Each mentor shall submit one file with all eight sections included. The mentor must ensure the file is properly marked before transmission.

C. Evaluation of White Papers: The following information will be used to determine whether the White Paper is consistent with the intent of the BAA, the DOD MPP, and of interest to the Army. Each Offeror’s White Paper will be evaluated based on the following criteria. Sub-criteria listed under any criterion are of equal importance.

The first approval level includes (pass/fail) in the following areas:

1. Participation in the agreement by an authorized subcontractor; an HBCU, MSI, APEX Accelerators, SBDC, WBC, MII and/or MEP Mentors shall identify participation in the agreement by an authorized subcontractor. An authorized subcontractor is either a Historically Black College & University (HBCU), Minority Serving Institution (MSI), APEX Accelerators, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Women’s Business Center (WBC), Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs) or Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). MPP agreements may include more than one HBCU, MSI, APEX Accelerators, SBDC, WBC, MII and/or MEP in their developmental assistance plan. Failure to provide the 5% total contract value assistance to any of the groups listed in this section will result in disqualification of the White Paper.

2. Amount of Engineering and Technical (Technology Transfer) Assistance The percent of engineering and technical assistance (technology transfer) from the Mentor and an authorized subcontractor(s) must be identified and equal to at least 50% of the total proposed effort. This is a pass/fail criterion. Failure to provide 50% engineering and technical assistance will result in disqualification of the White Paper.

3. Affirmation Memorandum The memorandum shall be from an Army Program Office or Technical Advisor that is knowledgeable in the proposed technical transfer. The memo on Agency letterhead, must provide:

a) Contact information for the activity representative,

b) A statement that the developmental assistance proposed fills a gap or program interest (state the gap/interest). This agreement is of benefit to DOD, Army or program office in terms of expanding the industrial base with qualified small- disadvantaged business concerns that can support DOD, Army or program office.

c) Signed at the GS15/COL level.

Next, the Government will consider the following evaluation factors when selecting mentors for the Army program in descending order of importance:

1. Importance to Agency Programs: Relevance of proposed development assistance to current DoD/Army requirements Identify and describe how the proposed developmental assistance is in alignment with current DoD and/or Army requirements. (See II Mentor-Protégé Program Outline, F & G. Goals and Objectives, in this BAA).

2. Protégé Development: Overall approach to providing Engineering and Technical (Technology Transfer) assistance to the Protégé a.) Engineering and technical assistance to the Protégé must equate to at least 50% of the total proposed effort.

b.) Identify and describe the anticipated approach and timeline of the Engineering and Technical (technology transfer) assistance to be provided to the Protégé.

3. Expected utilization of authorized subcontractor(s) (HBCU, MSI, APEX Accelerators, SBDC, WBC, MII, and/or MEP) during the proposed agreement a.) Must identify the percent participation in the agreement by all authorized subcontractors such as a Historically Black College & University (HBCU), Minority Serving Institution (MSI), APEX Accelerators, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Women’s Business Center (WBC), Manufacturing Innovation Institutes (MIIs), or Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). MPP agreements may include more than one HBCU, MSI, APEX Accelerators, SBDC, WBC, MII and/or MEP in their developmental assistance plan.

b.) Identify and describe the anticipated work effort(s) by the authorized subcontractor(s) in the proposed Protege development efforts. The description should clearly identify whether the tasks are engineering and technical (technology transfer) assistance or general business development assistance.

c.) Must be a minimum of 5% of the total proposed contract value.

4. Protégé Development: Overall anticipated approach to providing General Business Development assistance to the Protégé Identify and describe the anticipated business development assistance to be provided to the Protégé.

5. Capabilities and Experience: Capacity and capability to achieve the objectives of this solicitation and the Mentor Protégé Program a.) Identify and describe the Mentor's qualifications, capabilities, experience in related technical areas, proposed facilities and equipment, and capacity for achieving the proposal objectives.

b.) Identify potential opportunities for meaningful subcontracting opportunities from the Mentor to the Protege.

6. Past Performance as a Mentor Identify and describe the Mentors past performance, if any, in the DoD Mentor Protege program. Identify any past Nunn-Perry awards and/or any significant mentoring accomplishments. Additionally, any past performance data may be considered by the evaluators, including information from the CPARS.GOV system as well as from FAPIIS.GOV.

7. ROM Cost Proposal Does the proposed effort appear reasonable and seem like a sound use of money for the timeframe proposed? Did the mentor verify they have an approved DCMA accounting system and provide proof of DCAA rate approval.

Table 1 Technical Rating Method

Based on a rating of each of the above, the Government will rank the proposals from the highest to the lowest evaluated. Then the Government will fund the number of proposals that it has the money for, starting with the most highly evaluated proposal first, then the next most highly rated proposal overall, next, etc.

D. Restrictive Markings on White Papers:Proposal submissions will be protected from unauthorized disclosure in accordance with FAR Subpart 15.207, applicable law and DFARS regulations. Offeror’s that include in their proposal, data that they do not want disclosed, shall mark their proposal in accordance with the instructions at FAR 52.215-1(e) (1) and (2), restricting their White Paper as appropriate.

E. Structure of White Papers:

1. White Paper shall be structured in eight sections (A-H) as provided in the template.

2. Failure to comply may result in the rejection of the White Paper during administrative review at the Government’s discretion. Deviations in format will be considered non-responsive.

3. Submissions are limited to 15 total pages. The affirmation memo and DCMA approved billing rate memo are not included in the 15-page count.

F. Down Select and Request for Proposal: Mentor Firms with White Papers found to be consistent with the intent of the solicitation and program goals will be chosen, following the evaluation criteria listed above, to submit technical and cost proposals. Selectees will be solicited to submit an executive summary, technical and cost proposal based on available funding for the Mentor Protégé program. The proposals will be sent by the Army Contracting Command Aberdeen Proving Ground contracts office (ACC APG) and will be due 30 calendar days after solicitation release. The proposed offer’s pricing should be good for 180 calendar days. More details will be available to the selectee that receives a solicitation.