Glossary Of Small Business Terms part 33

working in conjuction with a State or local government or Indian tribe; or Indian tribes acting on their own, with proper certification that no other qualified organization exists within their jurisdiction.

PRIME CONTRACT A contract awarded directly by the Federal government.

PRIME RATE Interest rate which is charged business borrowers having the highest credit ratings, for short term borrowing. As published daily in the Wall Street Journal, it is the basis for rates to other lenders.

PROCUREMENT FORECASTS Annual The Small Business Act requires that agencies annually publish a list of their requirements for upcoming fiscal year. These listings may be accessed through individual agency websites or the SBA website.

PRODUCT LIABILITY Type of tort or civil liability that applies to product manufacturers and sellers.

PROFESSIONAL AND TRADE ASSOCIATIONS Non-profit, cooperative and voluntary organizations that are designed to help their members in dealing with problems of mutual interest. In many instances professional and trade associations enter into an agreement with SBA to provide volunteer counseling to the small business community.

PRO-Net SBA’s Procurement Marketing Access Network, or PRO-Net, is a "virtual" onestop procurement shop. The database offers an electronic search engine for contracting officers and serves as a marketing tool for small businesses that register with the system. It contains the profiles of thousands of small firms.

PROPRIETORSHIP The most common legal form of business ownership; about 85 percent of all small businesses are proprietorships. The liability of the owner is unlimited in this form of ownership.

PROTEGE 8(a) The U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Mentor-Protégé program enhances the capability of 8(a) participants to compete more successfully for federal government contracts. The program encourages private-sector relationships and expands SBA’s efforts to identify and respond to the developmental needs of 8(a) clients.

PROTEGE BusinessLINC In previous business-to-business relationship programs, the relationship between the large company and small business was referred to as mentorprotégé programs. The BusinessLINC Protégé Network is a comprehensive on-line data base that provides immediate registration for both protégé opportunities and small business procurement/contracting opportunities through SBA’s PRO-Net system. Protégé registration is hyperlinked to PRO-Net so that your information can efficiently be included in small business profiles scanned by large businesses for both mentor-

Glossary Of SmallBusiness Terms part 34

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