The PennDOT Mentor Protégé Program program empowers prime consultants (DBE or Non-DBE) as mentors to transfer knowledge through the project development process on active projects to help DBE firms become self-sufficient and long-term business partners and grow team relationships to include more underrepresented firms to improve participation and eradicate barriers to opportunities.
Mentors may be experienced prime or sub-consultant firms registered as PennDOT Business Partners with an active qualifications package in PennDOT’s Engineering and Construction Management System (ECMS). DBE mentors are welcome and encouraged.
Intrested in the Mentor-Protégé Program? We can help you navigate the full PennDOT process from Business Partner Registration, Contractor Prequalification & Consultant Qualification all the way through to bidding on and executing a contract.
Certified DBEs and DBs desiring to participate in PennDOT’shighway construction program are eligible to receive all DBE/DB Supportive Services Center services at no charge. Download our guide to learn more about participation.
Participation is voluntary. ProRank and PennDOT will assist Protégés who cannot find a Mentor. To the extent possible, the MPP will either match Mentor and Protégé businesses of the same field, discipline, and geographic region or will allow the Mentor to pair with a Protégé of their own choosing. Whether established independently or with BDISBO’s assistance, a pairing will not create a contract between the Mentor and Protégé.
Once a Mentor and Protégé are matched and agree to enter into the MPP, they will enter into a “Mentor Protégé Program Agreement” (MPP Agreement) which will define the relationship between the Mentor and Protégé firms and any developmental goals identified by the participants.
The mentor and protégé firms will partner to establish protégé firms as experienced vendors for the Commonwealth. Together, they will explore opportunities to provide training and development, share knowledge, and collaboratively review the protégé’s work product.
As an example, a Consultant Mentor / Protégé team pursuing a project would go through the following steps together in the Statement of Interest (SOI)process: