The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) advocates for small business and focuses on providing valuable and current information to small businesses. This section highlights the latest updates to policies and regulations and provides links to additional resources. 

Policies and Regulations

OSDBU works with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to share proposed and final regulatory changes and rules with the small business community and actively solicits inputs and provides recommendations for changes during the rule comment period as required by Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review,  and Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review, always advocating for small businesses. 

  • The Small Business Act established the Small Business Administration and the Federal OSDBU offices, identifying their roles in advocating for small businesses.
  • The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) governs the usage of appropriated funds to acquire goods and services.  The Department of Energy Acquisition Guide provides procurement direction specific to the Department of Energy (DOE), as a supplement to the FAR
  • The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA) requires federal agencies to provide information concerning rules and regulations. It is a great resource for small businesses seeking information concerning the rules and regulations regarding all federal agencies and their relationships with the small business community.
  • DOE OSDBU’s Undue Restriction Portal provides small businesses the ability to report perceived contracting barriers.
  • In most cases when an agency pays a vendor late, it must pay interest. Prompt Payment determines those interest penalties and provides a variety of related resources for agency use.
  • Executive Order 13360 recognizes the sacrifices made by service-disabled veterans and directs federal agencies to provide contracting opportunities to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.

Visit Emergency Preparedness to learn how to develop a plan to protect your employees, lessen the financial impact of disasters, and re-open your business quickly to support economic recovery in your community.

SBA National Ombudsman

The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of the National Ombudsman works for small businesses to assist them with excessive federal regulatory issues.  Entrepreneurs, associations, nonprofits, and small government entities who have an issue with an existing federal regulation or policy can receive assistance from the Office of the National Ombudsman.  The SBA's National Ombudsman is an independent voice for small business within the federal government.

The Office of the National Ombudsman can help to:

  • resolve regulatory disputes with federal agencies
  • reduce unfair penalties and fines
  • seek remedies when rules are inconsistently applied
  • recover payment for services performed by government contractors  

The SBA's National Ombudsman analyzes small business concerns to detect recurring issues and trends that create barriers to small business growth.  The SBA partners with the appropriate federal agencies to create smart solutions to resolve these issues.

OSDBU Council

The OSDBU Council is an informal organization of the Federal Agency OSDBU Directors that comes together monthly to exchange and discuss information on acquisition methods, issues and strategies; small business program initiatives and processes; and small business related outreach events that permit their respective agencies to increase their utilization of small businesses as prime and subcontractors to meet their annual requirements for services and goods. 

The OSDBU Council works closely with the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, U.S. Small Business Administration, and Heads of Contracting for each agency along with stakeholders in the implementation and execution of the federal small business contracting programs. 

Contact the DOE OSDBU

OSDBU’s goal is to provide useful information to small businesses.  For questions about doing business with the DOE, please feel free to contact us. We are here to help.