Founded in 1985, the Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation (AREDF) aims to enrich the viability of Arizona’s rural communities by developing, expanding, retaining and attracting businesses, in turn creating a thriving, sustainable economy in southeastern Arizona.

To achieve its mission of creating a thriving economy in Arizona, AREDF provides co-spaces that can house developing businesses as a means of investing in local entrepreneurs. This important aspect helps entrepreneurs kick off their business ventures and launch into their developmental stages. Co-spaces provide affordable, professional offices when startup entrepreneurs in rural Arizona might otherwise lack access to the professional resources they need, like furnished offices and printing capabilities. Even more importantly, AREDF ensures startups and those in rural Arizona have access to high-speed, wireless internet by equipping these co-spaces with the connectivity they need. Connectivity is key for getting businesses up and running, and AREDF plays an essential role in empowering local entrepreneurs.

Beyond meeting the needs of southeastern Arizona’s rural communities, AREDF plays a role in the development of the burgeoning space economy. AREDF is the founder and operator of Aerospace Arizona, an association focused on promoting and expanding the aerospace industry throughout Arizona. Today, aerospace is one of the largest economic sectors in Arizona, with more than 1,200 Arizona companies participating in its development. This industrious sector creates a business-friendly environment that benefits both the state of Arizona and its residents. With areas of focus that include local business development, economic influence and regional industry development, AREDF promotes the aerospace industry throughout Arizona and, in doing so, enhances the local economy. 

“Investing in the wellbeing of Arizona’s entrepreneurial ecosystem means supporting the economic viability of Arizona’s rural communities and those who contribute to them,” says AREDF Executive Director Mignonne Hollis. “By identifying and removing impediments for businesses and advocating for the community on both state and national levels, AREDF helps attract and sustain local business development. One way AREDF accomplishes this is by equipping entrepreneurs in the beginning stages of development with the internet connectivity they need to engage with the modern economy.”

AREDF’s efforts help bridge the digital divide, bringing rural communities into the modern-day fold of the space economy and the benefits this industry has offer businesses and entrepreneurs. This is what makes AREDF a fitting partner for the Connect Everyone Coalition (CEC). Both organizations recognize the importance of reliable, affordable and innovative technology as a tool to connect people and places, foster innovation and support sustainable economic growth.

“AREDF is an example of an economic organization that meets the needs of its community and plays an important role in the approach to closing the digital divide. By empowering individuals in rural communities to access technologies and internet connectivity, AREDF ensures everyone, everywhere in Arizona can prosper from economic growth and the burgeoning space economy,” says CEC Executive Director Richard Cullen. “Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are one tool in the connectivity toolbox that helps meet the needs of rural communities by deploying broadband internet access in remote or hard to reach areas. LEO satellites are a gamechanger when it comes to empowering rural communities to conduct business.”

DID YOU KNOW?

As of 2024, 83.9 percent of small businesses had broadband internet access through a terrestrial provider, with increasing access to internet via LEO satellites, according to a report from the U.S. Small Business Administration. While this growing availability to broadband internet reflects a positive shift in access to innovative technologies that shape the everyday, modern business ecosystem, there is still work to be done.

Small businesses are more susceptible to the negative effects of less reliable connectivity, whether it is a result of slow broadband access, expensive internet offerings or an altogether lack of connectivity. This is doubly true for small businesses in rural areas. Recent data shows that small businesses account for nearly 85 percent of establishments and 54 percent of employment in rural counties. To ensure these communities have the ability to thrive in the 21^st-century economy, it is time for rural small businesses to gain access to reliable, affordable and high-speed internet connectivity. 

This is where next generation technologies like LEO satellites can play a role in ensuring everyone, everywhere has access to the tools they need to foster a thriving environment that welcomes and invests in local businesses and the people who operate them. LEO satellites can reach where other internet offerings have previously left rural communities underserved and unserved. Such technology is promising for rural businesses and communities alike because connectivity enhances the viability of these entrepreneurial ecosystems and supports their ability to create a thriving, sustainable economy.