N.Y.C. Charter § 1206: Section 1206. Mentoring program.

1. The department of design and construction may establish a mentoring program for small businesses and minority and women owned business enterprises that have been certified pursuant to section thirteen hundred four of the charter in the construction trades. The department of design and construction may determine the criteria pursuant to which a business shall be eligible for and selected as a mentee business participating in the components of such a program under paragraph c of subdivision five of this section, the number of mentee businesses to participate in each such component of such a program, the criteria for the competitive selection of the firms that will provide mentoring services, and the assignment of a mentor to a specific mentee business.

2. The department of design and construction shall be authorized, notwithstanding any other provision of law:

a. to designate which eligible contracts shall be mentoring program contracts under subparagraphs one and two of paragraph c of subdivision five of this section, respectively;

b. to establish standards for qualifying mentee businesses to compete for a mentoring program contract, provided that no less than two qualified mentee businesses in the program must submit responsive offers to perform the contract;

c. to determine when bids or proposals for a mentoring program contract should be restricted to mentee businesses that, prior to the receipt of bids or proposals, have been qualified for such competition;

d. to competitively select, designate and contract with one or more experienced firms that, under the general supervision of the department of design and construction, will provide mentoring services to the mentee businesses, and to assign such mentors one or more designated mentee businesses;

e. to assist mentee businesses that have been awarded mentoring program contracts to obtain any surety bond or contract of insurance required of them in connection with such contract only, notwithstanding any provision of section two thousand five hundred four of the insurance law to the contrary; and

f. in addition to the benefits of such program and notwithstanding any other provision of law, to provide mentee businesses technical assistance in obtaining bid, payment and performance bonding for contracts that are not mentoring program contracts, for which the businesses are otherwise qualified.

3. If the total number of qualified mentee businesses that respond to a competition and are considered capable of meeting the specifications and terms of the invitation to compete is less than two, or if the department of design and construction determines that acceptance of the best offer will result in the payment of an unreasonable price, the department of design and construction shall reject all offers and withdraw the designation of the contract as a mentoring program contract. If the department of design and construction withdraws the designation of the contract as a mentoring program contract, the mentee businesses, if any, that made offers shall be notified.

4. A mentor shall provide services and assistance to a mentee business as designated by the department of design and construction, which may include the following:

a. provide business training in the skills necessary to operate a successful business and to compete for and perform a contract;

b. provide technical assistance to the mentee business to assess the outcome if the mentee business competes for but is not awarded a contract;

c. if the mentoring program contract is awarded to the mentee business, provide guidance, advice and technical assistance to the mentee business in the performance of the contract; and

d. provide other technical assistance to the mentee business to facilitate learning, training and other issues which may arise.

5. As used in this section:

a. "Small business" means a business which (1) is independently owned and operated; and (2) has annual revenues not exceeding a fiscal limitation of five million dollars or such lesser amount as established by the department of design and construction pursuant to this section.

b. "Mentoring program contract" means a contract designated by the department of design and construction, in an estimated amount of not more than one million five hundred thousand dollars for contracts under subparagraph one of paragraph c of this subdivision and three million dollars for contracts under subparagraph two of such paragraph, for which bids or proposals are to be invited and accepted only from businesses that are enrolled in a mentoring program and have been selected by the department of design and construction to compete for the contract.

c. "Mentoring program" is a program established pursuant to this section to provide mentee businesses with the opportunity:

(1) or up to four years, to compete for and, where awarded, to perform certain contracts designated for inclusion in the mentoring program, with the assistance of a competitively selected mentor firm that has extensive management and mentoring experience, with the mentor providing the mentee business with advice and assistance in competing for and managing contracts; and

(2) for a mentee business that the department of design and construction has determined has successfully completed the program under subparagraph one of this paragraph, for up to four additional years, (A) additional opportunities to compete with other designated mentee businesses in the program for certain contracts to be designated for inclusion under this subparagraph and, where awarded, to perform such contracts, with the further assistance of a competitively selected mentor firm that has extensive management and mentoring experience, with the mentor providing the mentee with advice and technical assistance in competing for and managing contracts, and (B) assistance, as determined by the department of design and construction, for such a mentee business to obtain bonding for contracts that are competitively awarded pursuant to any other provision of law.

6. Commencing on October first, two thousand twenty, the department of design and construction shall submit an annual report to the governor and the legislature that contains the following information for the preceding city fiscal year:

a. the total number and total dollar value of mentoring program contracts; and

b. mentoring program participation rates.

(2019 N.Y. Laws Ch. 98, 7/15/2019, eff. 7/15/2019)