Industry
THE TIME TO INVEST IN
RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS
Now
by Todd Van Hoose, President and CEO, Farm Credit Council
Rural America is the backbone of our country. Yet many rural Americans today don’t have access to broadband and the fast internet speeds needed to conduct their businesses, access much needed telehealth services or, as we have seen over the last year, enable their children to access schoolwork. It’s time to invest and rebuild rural infrastructure; and rural broadband connection is an obvious place to start.
T
he ability to provide resources, such as highspeed internet access, and keep people in rural America equipped to produce the goods that keep our country moving is a critical factor in America’s international competitiveness. Losing that integrated network would threaten our leadership position in global trade. This is why more than 260 organizations nationwide have joined together to form the Rebuild Rural Coalition. These institutions focus on ensuring that future infrastructure investments benefit rural families, rural communities, rural businesses and
22 LEADER
JUNE 2021
cooperatives, and U.S. agricultural producers. They understand that the infrastructure improvements required in rural America are fundamentally different from those required in urban areas. And together, they are working to ensure rural America receives its fair share of federal infrastructure funding. Access to high-speed internet is vital for rural communities to maintain vibrant economies, healthy residents and a competitive agriculture sector in a variety of ways. And the need for nation-wide broadband access has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
