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Mentoring helps protégés flourish

The Mentor-Protégé Program reduces the learning curve for colleges and small businesses.

Like many company founders, Sue Rice is driven. “As an athlete growing up, I just wanted to win,” she said. “In my business today, I get my share of wins, but there are lots of losses, too. Overall, I am successful at what I do, so my dream is being realized.”

Y‑12 has played a big part in helping her dream come true. Cavanagh Services Group, the company Rice started in 2002, is one of 17 protégés in Y‑12's Mentor-Protégé Program. The company specializes in waste packaging, transportation, treatment and disposal.

“The Mentor-Protégé Program has been absolutely critical for the growth of my company and in improving my company's strategic position in the environmental cleanup industry,” she said. “As a result of this program, Cavanagh has increased its staff by 80%.”

The purpose of the program, a DOE initiative, is to plug voids in Y‑12 site operations with specialized personnel and, in turn, help small businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities improve their technical and business capabilities. Since the signing of the first mentor-protégé agreement in 1998, Y‑12's program has flourished, earning DOE's Mentor of the Year Award for 2007.

MS Technology, a graduate of Y‑12's Mentor-Protégé Program, became a licensee of the Y‑12–developed microwave metal melting and casting technology. “We have benefited from this relationship more, perhaps, than any other company,” said Mike Smith, MS Technology president and chief executive officer. “We've matured into a competitive, full-service engineering company while advancing casting techniques valuable to Y‑12 and other companies.”

Mike Twine, president and chief executive officer of G2 Engineering & Management Inc., said he used the mentor-protégé experience to improve his entire operation. “Our approach to how we interface and control our subcontractors has improved, we have stronger policies and procedures and the strategy we use when marketing new customers is more direct,” he said.

Each protégé is paired with a Y‑12 mentor, or business coach. For many protégés, their mentor is key to building their business. Ken Lewis was one such mentor. Lewis was instrumental in strengthening South Carolina State University's nuclear engineering program and securing accreditation for the program. “Here is an example of how the Mentor-Protégé Program is helping build a university's infrastructure and capabilities so it can better prepare a new skilled work force for Y‑12, the National Security Enterprise and the nation,” he said. Lewis is now dean of the school's College of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technology.

Dennis Hough mentors DCS Electronics, which manufactures instrumentation systems and fabricates metal products. “Dennis has taught us to think strategically not only about opportunities with Y‑12, but other opportunities throughout the DOE complex, in the nuclear market and in the commercial market,” said Chris Combs, DCS's president.

“To be given the opportunity to learn from a successful and experienced mentor . . . is just a tremendous way to reduce the learning curve for a small business,” said Rice, who continues to carve out new work in her niche market. “Mediocrity is not an option.”

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