The Office of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO) develops, coordinates, evaluates, and recommends to the Commission policies, programs, and practices that promote participation by small entities, women, and minorities in the communications industry. A principal function of OCBO is to lead, advise, and assist the Commission, including its component Bureau/Office managers, supervisors, and staff on ways to ensure that the competitive concerns of small entities, women, and minorities are fully considered by the agency in notice and comment rulemakings. In accordance with this function, the Office:
- Conducts independent analyses of the Commission's policies and practices to ensure that those policies and practices fully consider the interests of small entities, women, and minorities.
- Advises the Commission, Bureaus, and Offices of their responsibilities under the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended, by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-121).
The Office has the following duties and responsibilities:
- Serving, through its director, as the principal small business policy advisor to the Commission.
- Developing, implementing, and evaluating programs and policies that promote participation by small entities, women, and minorities in the communications industry.
- Managing the Regulatory Flexibility Analysis process pursuant to the Regulatory Flexibility Act and the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act to ensure that small business interests are fully considered in agency actions.
- Developing and recommending Commission-wide goals and objectives for addressing the concerns of small entities, women, and minorities.
- Acting as the principal channel for disseminating information regarding the Commission's activities and programs affecting small entities, women, and minorities.
- Developing, recommending, coordinating, and administering objectives, plans and programs to encourage participation by small entities, women, and minorities in the decision-making process.
- Promoting increased awareness within the Commission of the impact of policies on small entities, women, and minorities.
- Acting as the Commission's liaison to other federal agencies on matters relating to small business.