Rural Broadband Grants Begin to Pay Off for Kansas Businesses
Small businesses in rural Kansas say new high-speed internet connections are opening markets that were previously out of reach.
The push to extend high-speed internet into rural Kansas is beginning to pay dividends for small businesses, owners say, opening markets and enabling operations that were previously impractical over slow or spotty connections.
From a machine shop that now sells parts online to a rural clinic offering telehealth visits, business owners describe broadband as a prerequisite for competing in a digital economy. Grant-funded fiber projects have reached communities that commercial carriers had bypassed.
"We were losing customers simply because we could not upload a file," said the owner of a design firm in a small central Kansas town. State officials say the economic returns strengthen the case for continued investment.
Challenges remain in the most remote areas, where the cost of reaching each additional home or business stays stubbornly high.
