Last moth the SBA (Small Business Administration) released a report on Veteran-owned Businesses and their Owners – Data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners. There were a couple of statistics that caught my eye:

• About 23 percent of current veteran business owners, and 32 percent of those planning or in the process of starting a new business, indicated that their venture would be 50 percent or more internet-dependent.
• The self-employment rate for veterans was higher than that of non-veterans in each year from 1979 through 2003, the last year covered in the study.
• Computer use is correlated with higher self-employment rates among all veterans.

We heard from the Mayor of Morris (MN) (video below) about how they are using WiFi and public access computer in the local American Legion. He pointed out that it’s been a great way to get some of the older guys online and hoped it would be a way to attract some of the younger veterans, which are some great first steps. But it seems like the statistics above might indicate that there might be even more opportunities at a community level to encourage broadband access and adoption with veterans to help open the door to entrepreneurship.