A revised Polaris release, a week before solicitation release, was met with great uproar when GSA revised the SBA Mentor-protégé Joint Ventures (JV) requirements. Many small businesses were concerned that the release provided SBA Mentor-protégé Joint Ventures too much leeway and reliance on the mentor in competing on the Request For Proposal (RFP).

GSA took the concerns and has provided two draft options for interested JVs. The first suggested change would require “a minimum of one Primary Relevant Experience Project or Emerging Technology Relevant Experience Project must be from the Protégé. No more than three Primary Relevant Experience Projects may be provided by the Mentor.”

Additionally, all JVs must provide an additional attachment “detailing the work done and qualifications held individually by each partner to the joint venture as well as any work done by the joint venture itself previously.”

GSA emphasizes that the new language is simply a draft and is asking for interested vendors to provide any feedback specific to this change to Polaris@gsa.gov, no later than May 23, 2022.

Revised RFP can be found on SAM.gov here.

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