A recent report by Connect Michigan, a statewide public-private partnership working on broadband expansion, shows a significant correlation between high-speed Internet adoption and business growth. Businesses with a broadband connection were more likely to generate jobs, and reported having median annual revenues of $200,000 more than businesses without broadband. "In the digital economy, businesses must embrace broadband, and other transformative technologies like it, in order to remain competitive and viable. The Internet is driving products and services to the marketplace in an environment where creativity and innovation are both reinforced and rewarded," commented a spokesperson for Connect Michigan’s parent organization, Connected Nation.

The study showed approximately 164,000 Michigan businesses currently use broadband for daily business needs, 63% of which are small business with fewer than five employees. Today, President Obama visited a northern Michigan town to showcase small business broadband use which exemplified his State of the Union pledge to extend high-speed wireless Internet coverage to 98% of Americans, including remote small businesses, within the next five years.

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