• Survey of Rural Challenges results
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Can legislation spur rural broadband?

By Becky McCray

New York has passed legislation to try to spur further rural broadband development, as reported Friday in the Utica Observer-Dispatch. Can passing a law really make a difference on broadband investment?

The law directs one agency, the Department of Economic Development, to work with other departments, agencies and private companies. Their assignment is to create financial and other incentives to get companies to expand their investment in broadband service to underserved rural areas of the state. Ed Morrison reported this at his EDPro Weblog under the Incentives Watch.

My experience is that state agencies don’t work well together, especially when legislated to do so. Still, I applaud Governor Pataki for signing the bill and State
Senator David Valesky of Oneida for co-sponsoring it. Just yesterday, Laura Allen was telling me about the Oneida area, and how it has been hit hard with manufacturing job losses and global competition. That may be why Valesky is particularly aware. He seems to understand that broadband factors into rural jobs, global competitiveness, and economic development:

“High speed Internet access is more than a matter of convenience, it is an economic necessity.”

“Broadband access is an important tool in rural economic development and job retention.”

“Our local businesses need broadband access to compete in the global marketplace.”


Related story: Why Rural Small Businesses Will Still Dial Up for a Long Time to Come

small biz rural entrepreneurship economic development broadband gap digital divide

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Subscribe.

  • About the Author
  • Latest by this Author
Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

www.beckymccray.com
  • Shop Local tools: Easy Editorial, Letter to the Editor template to copy
  • Innovative Rural Business Models: video
  • Entrepreneur week advice for small towns: 3 practical steps for economic developers and chambers of commerce

July 31, 2006 Filed Under: Best of, economic development, entrepreneurship, rural Tagged With: Infrastructure, Support

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses. Logo with "Shop Indie Local"Move Your Money, bank local, invest localMulticolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week"Save Your Town logotype

Best of Small Biz Survival

A shopkeeper and a customer share a laugh in a small store packed full of interesting home wares.

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors

Wide view of a prairie landscape with a walk-through gate in a fence

Tourism: Make the most of scant remains and “not much to see” sites with a look-through sign

Holyoke Hummus Company cart

How one food business keeps adapting, from table to cart to truck, to restaurant and back again

Make extra money from extra workspace: co-working and 3rd workplaces in small towns

Newspaper story headline says, "Made in Dorrigo Markets a bustling success"

Boost your maker economy with a “Made in” day

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in