Friday, April 12, 2002
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Friday, April 12, 2002 |
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Universities pump more than $8 billion into the state's economy Georgia's 34 public colleges and universities had a massive impact on the state's economy during the last fiscal year, generating nearly 101,500 jobs and infusing $8 billion into local communities, according to a study conducted by the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. More than $3 billion of the system's $8 billion economic impact can be attributed to seven Atlanta-area campuses: Georgia Tech, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Clayton College & State University, Southern Polytechnic State University, Georgia Perimeter College and Atlanta Metropolitan College. Clayton State's economic impact has been most prominent in the Gateway Village development project. The first part of Gateway Village, the new Georgia State Archives building, is currently under construction immediately adjacent to the Clayton State campus. The companion to the state facility, the United States Southeastern Archives building, is expected to break ground later this year. Additional units of the Gateway Village project, which was first conceived by former Clayton State President Dr. Richard A. Skinner more than five years ago, will include a conference center, a hotel, class "A" office space, a new Morrow post office and a rail station on the proposed Atlanta to Macon commuter rail line. Clayton State has also impacted metro Atlanta through producing students who are highly trained in the use of technology in education. Since January 1998, all Clayton State students have had access to notebook computers through the University's Information Technology Project. In addition, metro Atlanta, including Clayton State's main constituency, Atlanta's "Southern Crescent," has also benefited directly from the university's other groundbreaking Information Technology program, the Information Technology Career Ladder, which rapidly produces graduates in specific technology fields through linked certificate programs, associate degrees and bachelor's degrees. The Intellectual Capital Partnership Program, an initiative of the Board of Regents' Office of Economic Development, commissioned the study by Dr. Jeffrey M. Humphreys, director of economic forecasting at the Selig Center. Humphreys said the university system's 34 institutions also collectively accounted for 101,427 jobs in the state during fiscal year 2001 - 2.8 percent of all the jobs in Georgia, or about one job in 37. Approximately 43 percent of the university system's jobs are on campus - representing employees of the University System of Georgia - and 57 percent are off-campus in either the private or public sectors. On average, for each job created on campus, 1.4 off-campus jobs exist because of spending related to the institution, he noted. Altogether, the System generated $3.7 billion in labor income in fiscal year 2001. "The University System of Georgia truly is an economic engine that helps to power our state on many levels, from producing graduates to building capital projects, to leveraging our employment and spending power," said Chancellor Thomas C. Meredith. The Selig Center study supports a 2001 report by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, which concluded that state and land grant universities are "major economic players in the cities and towns in which they are located." The complete report is available on the university system's Web site, www.usg.edu, under "Publications." Clayton College & State University, a state university of the University System of Georgia, is located in Morrow.
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