Comment on FR Doc # E9-29228

The current regulation requires that an 8(a) participant to a mentor protege joint venture being awarded an 8(a) contract do a "significant portion" of the contract. The proposed rule would change this to "an 8(a) participant to a mentor protege joint venture being awarded an 8(a) contract must perform at least 40% of the work done by the joint venture". We understand the intent may be to ensure that large business members of the joint ventures not take unfair advantage of the 8(a) participant member and that the 8(a) participants have the opportunity to perform significant work and develop in the process. We disagree with making the 40% an absolute minimum, however. We believe that each contract is different and that task orders under Indefinite Delivery contracts may provide differing opportunities for the 8(a) participant such that more flexibility is required to tailor the level of participation to the capabilities of the 8(a) firm at its point of developement. We strongly believe that the level of performance can be reviewed and approved by the appropriate SBA approval authority prior to concurring with an 8(a) award and again in annual reviews. We recommend either leaving the current language as is or that the new rule state that "the 8(a) participant perform a significant portion of the 8(a) contract using a minimum of 40% of the work performed by the joint venture as a target".