(a) You may or, if an operating administration directs you to, you must establish a DBE business development program (BDP) to assist firms in gaining the ability to compete successfully in the marketplace outside the DBE program. You may require a DBE firm, as a condition of receiving assistance through the BDP, to agree to terminate its participation in the DBE program after a certain time has passed or certain objectives have been reached. See Appendix C of this part for guidance on administering BDP programs.
(b) As part of a BDP or separately, you may establish a ``mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute]'' program, in which another DBE or non-DBE firm is the principal source of business development assistance to a DBE firm.
(1) Only firms you have certified as DBEs before they are proposed for participation in a mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] program are eligible to participate in the mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] program.
(2) During the course of the mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] relationship, you must:
(i) Not award DBE credit to a non-DBE mentor firm for using its own prot[eacute]g[eacute] firm for more than one half of its goal on any contract let by the recipient; and
(ii) Not award DBE credit to a non-DBE mentor firm for using its own prot[eacute]g[eacute] firm for more than every other contract performed by the prot[eacute]g[eacute] firm.
(3) For purposes of making determinations of business size under this part, you must not treat prot[eacute]g[eacute] firms as affiliates of mentor firms, when both firms are participating under an approved mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] program. See Appendix D of this part for guidance concerning the operation of mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] programs.
(c) Your BDPs and mentor-prot[eacute]g[eacute] programs must be approved by the concerned operating administration before you implement them. Once approved, they become part of your DBE program.