SBA to hear complaints about federal agency

If you’re a small business who’s got a beef with the federal government, the U.S. Small Business Administration wants to help.

The SBA’s national ombudsman will be in Spokane next week to hear complaints by small businesses against any federal agency and to try to help resolve those complaints.

The agencies that typically attract the most small-business ire are the Internal Revenue Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, said Patty Jordan, the SBA’s spokeswoman in Spokane. Common complaints include repeated audits or investigations, excessive fines, penalties, or even agency retaliation.

Ombudsman Peter Sorum will try to solve problems on the spot, but if he can’t, he’ll work with the agency in question to get answers, Jordan said.

Kyle Kinyon, of Allegro Escrow in Spokane, participated by videoconference in a similar session held in Seattle last year and said a problem he’d had with the IRS for years was fixed within a week.

“Before, there was a situation where there was absolutely no way out,” he said. The IRS fined the company for submitting incorrect Social Security numbers on paperwork it filed with the agency, but Kinyon said Allegro had no way of knowing the numbers were wrong. What’s more, the IRS took so long to inform the company of the wrong numbers that Allegro typically was fined more than once for their use. After intervention by the SBA ombudsman, the IRS told Allegro of a service it offers to screen Social Security numbers and names and let the company know which don’t match up before it submits them on its paperwork.

“He really did solve the problem,” Kinyon said.

Jordan cautions that the ombudsman wants to hear specific problems faced by individual businesses, not general rants against regulatory agencies.

Because the SBA only holds one such session per region each year, it could be four or five years before the ombudsman returns to the Inland Northwest, Jordan said. Business owners and representatives from Eastern Washington and North Idaho are invited to participate.

The session will be held July 20 from 9 a.m. to noon in room 110A of the WSU Health Sciences Building, 310 N. Riverpoint Blvd. It’s open to anyone, but those wanting help with a problem should call Jordan in advance at (509) 353-2879.