Sofia Bunger works on her laptop at Greyfriar’s Coffee & Tea Co. on Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. When Randy Boyd was named to head economic recruitment for Tennessee in January 2015, he traveled across the state doing listening sessions and quickly learned the biggest business concerns were not necessarily about taxes, regulations or incentives.
“Probably 50 to 75 percent of the input I got concerned the need for better rural broadband,” Boyd recalled.
A new survey that attracted more than 23,000 respondents from across the state underscores the concerns among residents and businesses about the need for faster internet links in rural parts of the Volunteer State. While a growing share of businesses and workers say they need high-speed internet service to do their jobs or conduct business, 34 percent of rural counties still lack high-speed broadband service.
“From an economic standpoint, having strong broadband service is essential to what we can offer a business,” Boyd said. “The good news is that you can now do business anywhere in the world if you are connected on the internet. But you have to have adequate broadband to compete today. In the future, no business is going to set up shop in a community if you don’t have broadband.”
Boyd said high-speed internet service is increasingly vital for e-commerce and online training of workers.