There’s a potential $140 billion for the U.S. economy if rural businesses unlock their digital potential, a report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found. Commissioned by Amazon, the report said this revenue would take effect over the next three years, creating 360,000 full-time jobs within these communities as well. Online technology and tools has the greatest potential impact on rural businesses making under $100,000, with potential sales growth reaching 28% over three years.
The rural U.S. has 18 million households with 37 million working-age adults, nearly 15% of the adult population and almost 75% of the land mass. However, in spite of some digital adoption, rural businesses only represent 3.7% of the economy’s total gross revenue. To strengthen this number, the report suggests increasing talent pipelines of candidates with digital skills in these rural areas, improving digital connectivity, and expanding the access rural businesses have to digital training and tools so they can scale.
From the 5,300 rural businesses surveyed, about 20% are already digital, and make at least 80% of their revenue online. The benefit of connectivity is clear, with another 29% saying online tools helped reduce the purchasing costs of materials and other products. 54.6% confirm that online tools positively impacted their revenue in the last three years, and 55.2% used e-commerce to help grow their customer bases.
“The opportunity to successfully start and grow a rural small business in our country is a great example of how technology is positively transforming nearly every aspect of our lives,” said the senior vice president of the Chamber’s Technology Engagement Center, Tim Day. “Digital tools and technologies allow rural small businesses to compete in a global economy—regardless of their size or location—which is essential to a vibrant U.S. economy.”
