The Office of the National Ombudsman at the Small Business Administration released its annual report last Thursday rating federal agencies on how they respond to small business concerns.

Ombudsman Nicholas Owens was tasked with grading each agency based upon the following criteria:

Timeliness and quality of response,

Presence of a non-retaliation policy,

Degree of regulatory enforcement compliance assistance to small firms,

Participation in regulatory fairness hearings, and

The manner in which an agency informs small businesses about their rights outlined in the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act.

The 80-page report held some good news for small-business owners as agencies overall improved their compliance efforts. In fact, most federal agencies received a grade of A or B overall. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement(ICE) were the only agencies to receive a C. No agency received a grade lower than a C.

The report gave special recognition to six agencies for their excellent work. Those agencies included: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the departments of Transportation and Commerce. These agencies were specially recognized for their regulatory compliance assistance and willingness to work with the ombudsman's office on enforcement fairness.

To read the complete report click here.