These technologies can have a real impact on the economy of a rural community. The Internet, for example is changing the way businesses market their products and buy and sell goods. As long as you have a PC and a modem, you can buy your supplies and market your goods anywhere in the world. A small company in central Kentucky, for example, can now reach buyers in Kalamazoo, Caracas, or Kuala Lampuur. Because electronic commerce overcomes geographic barriers, it can change the fate of rural businesses.
Farmers can now market their products to large cities, simply at the click of a mouse.
A small family business can sell its wares anywhere in the world. In three seconds, I can order a Derby pie, classic Kentucky BBQ sauce, traditional Hadly pottery, or a Louisville stoneware mug. New technologies are also enabling information-based companies to locate in rural and remote regions. This company, which makes storage device management software, was selected out of 10,000 small high-tech companies as the next potential Microsoft, based on its export sales, its revenues, and its growth in employment. Twenty years ago, Orem, Utah was a tiny town.