Small Business Ombudsman

The small business ombudsman serves as an "advocate" for small business and acts as neutral dispute resolver on issues related to state administrative rules.  State administrative rules provide the details of how a Wisconsin statute is administered by the state agency granted administrative authority.  It is the ombudsman's job to aid in the resolution of administrative rule problems in a nonadversarial manner on behalf of small business.  An ombudsman has broad powers to investigate and to make recommendations, but no authority to make or reverse a decision.

In representing the interest of small business, resources provided by the ombudsman include: 

• information and referrals on special programs of interest to small business; and 
• technical support to the Small Business Regulatory Review Board (SBRRB). The SBRRB is the voice of small business in exercising its statutory authority to oversee state agency's compliance in new rule development; as well as taking action on behalf of small business as it relates to existing rules that are unnecessarily burdensome to small business.