The Coalition of Small and Disabled Veteran Businesses (CSDVB) is a group of more than 20,000 veteran businesses that support the California Department of General Services. Their services range from food contracts to product procurement for all state agencies.

In California, small businesses, including these veteran-owned and operated enterprises, employ more than 50 percent of the state’s workforce and generate more than 90 percent of California’s gross domestic product. These businesses are contributing to California’s economy in a big way, but in order to ensure veteran businesses remain competitive in this sector, we must prioritize expanding access to reliable, high-speed internet.

“Access to reliable internet is a critical factor in the economic success of businesses,” says Philip Vermeulen, a CSDVB representative. “We should be using every available connectivity technology, including low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, to expand internet access as quickly as possible and ensure that our small and disabled veteran businesses have the economic resources, tools and efficiencies that 21^st-century connectivity provides.”

LEO satellites provide a connectivity option for even the most rural, remote and underserved areas. These small satellites orbit in vast constellations in the closest orbital range to Earth, enabling them to provide faster, more stable internet connection than traditional satellite internet. There is also no in-ground infrastructure requirement for the user. All a business needs to do to get connected is plug in a receiver and point it to the sky, bypassing lengthy and costly installation build-outs.

For small businesses, like the members of CSDVB, greater adoption of this technology can be life-changing. In today’s world, enterprise lives online. Nearly every aspect of doing business in 2025 relies on or is benefited by a reliable internet connection. LEO broadband can ensure that every one of CSDVB’s members has access to the economic benefits of high-speed internet.

“We are glad to have a voice for veteran businesses as a part of our efforts to bridge the digital divide and connect everyone, everywhere,” says Connect Everyone Coalition Executive Director Richard Cullen. “The work of the Coalition for Small and Disabled Veteran Businesses reminds us what this mission is really about – leveling the playing field by ensuring that all households, all businesses, all servicemembers have access to the advantages and opportunities of high-speed broadband.”

DID YOU KNOW?

A 2022 report from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center found that “investing in digital equity” in the United States would “exponentially boost economic opportunities and create cost savings for generations to come.” When connectivity expands, a “ripple effect” improves economic productivity, workforce development, and access to capital.

LEO satellites create a fast, affordable option to quickly deploy high-speed internet even to areas that have previously been left unserved or underserved by traditional technologies, bringing the critical resources, education and efficiencies that support economic success for everyone, everywhere.