SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
OMB 1405-0161
MENTOR-PROTÉGÉ PROGRAM APPLICATION
(Form DS 4053)
A. JUSTIFICATION
The U.S. Department of State Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization continues its mentor-protégé program that encourages agreements between large (and small) business prime contractor mentors and eligible small business protégés. Data must be collected and evaluated from both the mentor and the protégé firm to continue the program.
The data collected includes business-related information such as the company name, contact information and NAICS codes of both the mentor and protégé firm. Description of the execution of the proposed mentor-protégé arrangement, estimate of cost, term of participation, definition of milestones, metrics, potential subcontracting, options for termination of the agreement, and continuing value of the arrangement are all data that are collected.
2. The information that mentor and protégé firms are required to submit is used by agency personnel -– the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and cognizant contracting officers –- to determine if the proposed agreement offers value to the Government and to the applicant firms. Without the information required by this collection, there is no equitable basis for evaluating the viability and success of the proposed agreement and the capabilities of the firms.
3. At this time, the Mentor-Protégé application form is available on the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization website and can be downloaded, then completed, and emailed, faxed, or mailed in return. Eventually, the form will be available for online application. As U.S. Government electronic E-GOV solutions (such as electronic signatures) become readily available, this form will become fully electronic and will allow an end-to-end electronic business process that is designed to reduce the burden on small business and enable greater digital communications.
4. This is a recently implemented program. It does not duplicate any similar information available.
5. The collection gathers information so that a mentor-protégé program can exist and assist small businesses.
The Mentor-Protégé Program is designed to motivate and encourage firms to assist small businesses with business development. The program is also designed to improve the performance of Department of State contractors and subcontractors, foster the establishment of long-term business relationships between small businesses and prime contractors, and increase the overall number of small businesses that receive Department of State contract and subcontract awards. State collects the minimum amount of information needed to effectively evaluate and facilitate the mentor-protégé agreement. The use of information technology to conduct this collection has reduced the amount of burden imposed by this collection.
6. The Mentor-Protégé Program requires interested firms to submit an application and a copy of the proposed Mentor-Protégé Agreement. Annual narrative reports describing program progress are also required. The Mentor-Protégé Program cannot continue without an application process and cannot be adequately administered without the submission of annual reports.
7. Not applicable. There are no such special circumstances.
8. The Department published a 60-day notice for public comment in the Federal Register in 72 F.R. 60709 (October 25, 2007). No comments were received. It will publish a 30-day Federal Register notice as well.
Regarding future consultations: it is the nature of this program that Mentor-Protégé teams are in close contact with the Mentor-Protégé Program Manager. Teams undergo an Annual Review as shown in the computations. These Annual Reviews provide an excellent opportunity for small and large firm feedback on the information collection process.
9. Not applicable. There are no payments or gift to respondents.
10. This collection pertains to commercial business entities that are familiar with the general confidentiality requirements of FAR 3.104 and 15.207 when submitting proposals to the U.S. Government.
11. Not applicable. The Department of State does not solicit any information regarding questions of a sensitive nature or matters commonly considered private in this information collection.
12. As part of the evaluation of the program, information from respondents is collected on a Form DS 4053. The estimated number of respondents is 14; and the frequency of response per respondent is 1 (one). It is also estimated that, on average, each respondent would need 21 hours to complete this specific written submission. Accordingly, the total estimated annual hour burden for the collection is 294 hours.
See attached table for a breakdown of the hour burden and labor costs.
13. The estimated cost to industry in terms of money and other resources is minimal. Other than the labor costs addressed above, the non-labor costs (approximately 1% of labor costs) are $97.70. This includes production materials (paper, binders, diskettes, CDs), mailing or delivery costs, storage costs, etc.
14. The annualized cost to the Department for processing and maintaining Mentor-Protégé applications and annual reports is estimated to be $5,656.00. This is an estimated amount. (See the table for Item 14).
15. The estimated cost to industry in terms of labor costs and non-labor costs were updated. The hour burden remains unchanged. The annualized cost to the Department for processing and maintaining Mentor-Protégé applications was also updated. The hour burden to the Department was adjusted because application processing time is not as lengthy as originally estimated.
16. The collection of data will not be published for statistical use.
17. Not applicable. There is no request not to display the OMB expiration date.
18. There are no exceptions to the certification statement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
ANNUALIZED ANALYSIS (RESPONDENTS, Item 12)
The annual burden hour is broken down as follows:
Action |
Hours X |
Estimated Hourly Wage = |
Estimated Cost (Rounded) |
Read requirement and gather information for application Protégé Staff Person |
2 |
$45 |
$90 |
Mentor and Protégé coordinate information for application Mentor Staff Person |
2
|
49
|
98 |
Develop answers and prepare response for application Protégé Staff Person |
5 |
45 |
225 |
Mentor and Protégé attend Application Review Mentor Staff Person Protégé Staff Person |
2 2 |
49 45 |
98 90 |
Sub-Total for Application |
13 |
|
|
Mentor and Protégé coordinate information for Annual Review Mentor Staff Person Protégé Staff Person |
2 2 |
49 45 |
98 90 |
Mentor and Protégé attend Annual Review Mentor Staff Person Protégé Staff Person |
2 2 |
49 45 |
98 90 |
Sub-Total for Annual Review |
8 |
|
|
Total |
21 |
|
$977 |
Total direct labor hour costs
Labor Costs $977.00
Application Annual Report
Number of hours 13 8
Agreements (Responses) X 14 14
Total Hours 182 112
ANNUALIZED COST ANALYSIS (FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Item 14)
Total Costs to Federal Govt. $5,656.00
These costs are broken down as follows:
The annualized cost to the Department for processing and maintaining Mentor-Protégé applications and annual reports is estimated to be $404. This estimated amount is based on the following:
Action |
Hours x |
Estimated Hourly Wage = |
Estimated Cost (Rounded) |
Review application Procurement Analyst (GS-13) Review and Sign Office Director (GS-15) |
3
1 |
$39.31
52.88 |
$117.93
52.88 |
Meet with Mentor-Protégé team Procurement Analyst (GS-13)
|
1
|
39.31
|
39.31
|
Review Narrative Annual Report Procurement Analyst (GS-13)
|
1
|
39.31
|
39.31
|
Maintenance duties to include filing, printing, mailing, phone calls, etc. Procurement Analyst (GS-13) |
3 |
39.31 |
117.93 |
Total |
9 |
|
$367 |
Labor costs $367.00
Materials (equipment usage, paper, postage) 37.00
Per Mentor-Protégé agreement $404.00
$404 per Mentor-Protégé agreement x 14 agreements = $5,656.00
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | General Instructions |
| Author | CulbrethPB |
| Last Modified By | Jaemie L. Drake |
| File Modified | 2008-02-20 |
| File Created | 2008-02-20 |