The DoD Mentor/Protégé Program

The DoD Mentor-Protégé Program provides incentives for DoD prime contractors to mentor small disadvantaged businesses and women-owned small businesses, so they can better develop the technical and business capabilities to become valued suppliers for the defense industry. The program was enacted in 1990 under the direction of former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry.

The mentor/protégé arrangement is a winning relationship for everyone involved: mentors build mutually beneficial partnerships, protégés develop a stronger business base, and both contribute significantly to the defense of our nation. Current participants in the program include companies specializing in environmental remediation, engineering services, information technology, manufacturing, telecommunications, and healthcare.

The Mentor/Protégé Relationship

ARINC joined the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program in 2003 with the goal of helping a small disadvantaged business develop its technical capabilities in order to compete more effectively for defense-related work.

A business that participates as a protégé in the program gains knowledge of state-of-the-art technologies and practices relevant to its industry, and are able to leverage ARINC’s technical expertise to bid on small business set-aside contracts. A protégé firm also enjoys the benefits of an established relationship, and the expanded market opportunities that this relationship can bring. And just as significant, ARINC offers insight and guidance into our common industry.

ARINC believes the program not only has the potential to improve business practices and infrastructure, it will lead to a mutually beneficial relationship with a valued business partner, where processes are streamlined and efficient, and technical innovation is cultivated. Quite simply, participation enhances the capabilities of both companies.

Integrated Consultants

ARINC’s protégé in the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program is Integrated Consultants, Incorporated (ICI) of San Diego, California. ICI is a woman-owned small business that provides expert engineering consulting services for a wide range of organizations, from large multinational companies and government agencies, to small manufacturing businesses. ICI communicates complicated ideas and information in a straightforward manner, and is often called upon to provide expert testimony or interpret federal standards.

While ICI staff possesses a very high level of science and engineering knowledge, they will benefit from ARINC’s assistance in tailoring that knowledge to the needs of the military. In its role as mentor, ARINC will also provide ICI with financial, business development, and manufacturing technology processes. ARINC and ICI will participate in the first phase of the program until June 2006.