On June 21, 2021, Gusto sent a letter to Congress urging legislation focused on infrastructural development, specifically in broadband, to continue supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the ongoing COVID-19 recovery. Gusto recognizes that legislation during this unprecedented pandemic that enabled SMBs to pay their employees while also ensuring individual employees could securely take paid sick leave or unemployment helped keep SMBs afloat. Modernizing our infrastructure is the next great step in supporting SMBs, the lifeblood of the US—99.9% of U.S. businesses are small businesses, employing 60.6 million people and generating 1.6 million net new jobs in 2019.
Continually, Gusto has advocated to include infrastructure in potential legislation given that 55% of small business owners agree that robust investment in U.S. infrastructure is crucial to their business’ success, and a majority support federal public infrastructure expenditure. Infrastructural improvements ensure efficient supply chains and enable communities and SMBs to build sustainable and resilient businesses.
A majority of small businesses rate high speed internet, local roads and bridges, cell phone networks, and highways as vital to their success, though more than 30 million Americans live in areas where there is not even minimally acceptable broadband infrastructure speed. The need for improved broadband infrastructure is clear. Improving broadband access can lead to economic prosperity—a 2019 study of fixed broadband in 139 nations found that each 10% increase in broadband penetration adds 1.4% to a higher income country’s gross domestic product.
Gusto recognizes the need to support SMBs, and this letter highlights how improving infrastructure is one way to do so. Read the full letter here:
