On Friday, June 13, 2025, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) held a Tribal Consultation in Anchorage, Alaska. The SBA’s stated purpose for the consultation was to solicit comments and testimony from Alaska Native Corporations, Tribes, and Native Hawaiian Organizations (“NHOs”) on how the SBA’s 8(a) Program can be improved and whether changes to the SBA’s All Small Mentor-Protégé Program (“MPA Program”) are needed to ensure that proteges receive the benefits that the MPA Program is supposed to provide.

SBA was represented by:

• • Diane Cullo, Assistant Administrator, Office of Native American Affairs,
  • John Klein, Deputy General Counsel, Office of General Counsel,
  • Apollo Fuhriman, Regional Administrator, Pacific Northwest Regional Office, and
  • Erica C. Rivera, Deputy District Director.

The SBA began the tribal consultation by stating its commitment to the “efficiency” and “efficacy” of the 8(a) Program and the MPA Program. Ms. Cullo also affirmed the SBA’s recognition of the trust responsibility owed by the federal government to Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations, and their commitment to engage in “government-to-government” relationships with Tribes and Alaska Native Corporations.

The SBA did not present any specific changes that it was considering. Instead, the SBA identified two broad issues that it wanted to discuss:

• • Entity-Owned Marketing. The SBA expressed a concern over the use by Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and NHOs of websites and other marketing materials that promoted the family of companies, as opposed to individual entities, and encouraged customers to contact the parent or holding company who would determine the customer’s need and then identify a subsidiary to provide the requested services. John Klein expressed a concern that this raised affiliation issues by taking the approach that the Tribe, Alaska Native Corporation, or NHO was a “conglomerate,” as opposed of comprised of individual small businesses engaged in their own business development efforts.

The reason for the SBA’s concern over these types of marketing efforts is not clear. 13 CFR 121.103(b)(2)(ii)(C) recognizes some aspects of business development can be provided by a Tribal/Native Corporation/NHO parent or holding company, and that it is only when a contract opportunity becomes substantial enough to be assigned to a specific subsidiary that the subsidiary must have direct involvement:

Business development may include both services that could be considered “common administrative services” under the exception to affiliation and those that could not. Efforts at the holding company or parent level to identify possible procurement opportunities for specific subsidiary companies may properly be considered “common administrative services” under the exception to affiliation. However, at some point the opportunity identified by the holding company’s or parent entity’s business development efforts becomes concrete enough to assign to a subsidiary and at that point the subsidiary must be involved in the business development efforts for such opportunity.

The use of market efforts at the parent or holding company level, including discussions with customers and the assignment of specific opportunities to particular subsidiaries would be directly in accord with the 13 CFR 121.103(b) and the shared services exception to affiliation afforded to Native-owned entities.

• • Mentor-Protégé Relationships. The SBA also expressed a concern that the mentors of Mentor-Protégé Agreements were freezing out their protégés from developing relationships with the customers that the mentor is developing. The SBA’s view is that the regulations require the mentors to involve the protégé in the customer relationship and discussions, and the SBA wanted to know if there are instances of mentors not doing so.

The SBA did not propose or reveal any specific policy or regulatory proposals. Instead, this was a listening session to permit Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and NHOs to raise issues with the SBA.

The SBA did announce that further tribal consultations would be held. Moreover, Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, and NHOs can submit written comments to Diana Cullo at Diane.cullo@sba.gov. The deadline for the submission of written comments is June 30, 2025, at 5:00 p.m., Alaska time. Additionally, a transcript of the tribal consultation will be made available.

This article summarizes aspects of the law. This article does not constitute legal advice. For legal advice regarding your situation, you should contact an attorney.