WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report issued today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration provides detail on the rural digital divide. The report documents greater broadband use by small businesses in urban areas compared with small businesses in rural areas.

Written by Telenomic Research with funding from the Office of Advocacy the report, Broadband Use by Rural Small Business, was released in Indianapolis at a broadband access forum hosted by USDA Rural Development, United States Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), Indiana Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman, and the Indiana Office of Rural Affairs.

The report’s author reviewed a number of reports showing links between information technology investment, broadband penetration, and economic growth. These results, combined with documented lower levels of rural small business broadband use, indicate that without increased broadband access rural economies could miss out on higher levels of growth and job creation.

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats and it funds research into small business issues.