ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories is looking for businesses to serve as either mentors or protégés in its Mentor Protégé Program (MPP) for next year.
Protégés in the program typically are small or growing businesses with a process or procedure in need of improvement. Mentors can be Sandia employees or larger, more experienced businesses willing to help a protégé business become a better supplier and, in the process, create a positive economic impact in the region.
MPP, sponsored by Sandia’s Office of Advocacy and Small Business Development in collaboration with Sandia’s Supplier Information and Relations Office, is designed to help small businesses in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Texas, and Nevada.
MPP features a one-year program with a second-year option. Teams of mentors and protégés establish a minimum of two business goals, meet once a month, submit development reports, and attend four business events a year together.
Protégés benefit from strengthened business practices and awareness within Sandia and the business community. Mentors create the opportunity to directly impact the quality and development of suppliers and businesses.
Vic Chavez, manager of Sandia’s Office of Advocacy and Small Business Development, said the program creates a positive economic impact in the region and helps foster a positive working environment among small businesses.
Chavez said the program has been recognized nationally and continues to grow. Within the last three years, the program has had 35 mentors and protégés, 11 alumni, and 14 business service advisors.
Bob Sachs from TEAM Specialty Products (TSP), a mentor in the program for two years, says as a Sandia “Strategic Partner,” TSP finds it important to give something back to the partnership because this is the essence of a true partnership.
“The highlight of the program was when we teamed with our protégé Reytek Corporation to win a contract to design and build a High Voltage Measurement System for the Primary Standards Lab at Sandia,” said Sachs.
TMC Design Corporation went through the program as a protégé in the first year of the pilot program and also in the second year. This year TMC Design Corporation serves as an alumnus in the program. Mark Retter, a Sandia manager, was TMC’s mentor.
Leroy Gomez, president of TMC Design, says TMC attended training over a period of 12 months, which culminated in obtaining the New Mexico 9000-compliant certificate from the State of New Mexico for the ISO 9001:2000 standard.
TMC Design Corporation increased its revenues from $5 million to $7.1 million and increased its employment base by 20 percent during the three years it participated in the program.
A series of presentations have been scheduled this month and next to highlight the participant’s technical capabilities, said Corina Gallegos, Sandia program manager for Small Business Development.
The presentations are intended for both internal Sandia technical and procurement staff and external companies and organizations, including various companies and industries that may have an interest in the services/technology being presented.
For information about the presentations or the program, contact the Mentor Protégé Program office at 284-9012 or visit www.sandia.gov/bus-ops/partnerships/sbp/MP/MPcontent.