(a) Mentor firms will be solely responsible for selecting protege firms that qualify under I-102(b). Mentor firms are encouraged to identify and select concerns that have not previously received significant prime contract awards from DoD or any other Federal agency.

(b) The selection of protege firms by mentor firms may not be protested, except as in paragraph (c) of this section.

(c) Any interested party may file a protest of the selection of a protégé firm directly with the Director, OSBP, OUSD(A&S) or the Director, OSBP, of the cognizant military department or defense agency. In the event of a protest regarding the size or status of an entity selected to be a protege firm, the Director, OSBP, OUSD(A&S), or the Director, OSBP, of the military department or defense agency must refer the protest to the SBA to resolve in accordance with 13 CFR Part 121 (with respect to size) or other parts of title 13 of the CFR or this appendix (with respect to the protégé’s socioeconomic status). The Director, OSBP, OUSD(A&S), or the Director, OSBP, of the military department or defense agency shall decide protests concerning all other aspects of a protégé’s eligibility for the Program (e.g., nontraditional defense contractor or entity employing the severely disabled).

(d) For purposes of the Small Business Act, no determination of affiliation or control (either direct or indirect) may be found between a protege firm and its mentor firm on the basis that the mentor firm has agreed to furnish (or has furnished) to its protege firm, pursuant to a mentor-protege agreement, any form of developmental assistance described in I-106(d).

(e) A protege firm may not be a party to more than one DoD mentor-protege agreement at a time, and may only participate in the Program during the 5-year period beginning on the date the protege firm enters into its first mentor-protege agreement.