ATLANTA - According to a newly released study, the combined economic impact in the northeast Georgia region of North Georgia College & State University (NGCSU) and Gainesville College (GC) was $234 million, with an employment impact of 2,910 jobs during fiscal year 2004.
Of that amount, Gainesville College accounted for $103 million.
"Well, of course, we were so pleased, not necessarily surprised, to see almost a doubling of the economic impact over the last six years," said Dr. Martha Nesbitt, GC President, "which, of course, reflects the tremendous growth we have undergone."
The University System of Georgia's $9.7 billion annual economic impact on the state of Georgia indicates that the economic clout of the USG's 34 public colleges and universities continues to increase.
The study, which spanned fiscal year 2004, was conducted by the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. It was initially released in 2000 covering Fiscal Year 1999, updated in 2002 to report Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001, and has just been updated again to show a $1.7 billion increase in the System's economic impact since the 2002 study (identified as $8 billion in Fiscal Year 2001).
Unlike the first two studies, this year's data did not include the impact of campus construction projects, so the effect on the local economy of North Georgia's new Physical Plant and Materials Management complex as well as the new Pennington Military Leadership Center building projects was not taken into account.
In addition to the $9.7 billion in "output impact" generated by the University System, the study found that public higher education is responsible for 2.8 percent of Georgia's workforce, or 106,831 full- and part-time jobs.
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 for the Selig Center.
"The single biggest factor driving the increase in the System's economic impact is the significant growth in the number of students enrolled in Georgia's public colleges and universities," Humphreys said. "Not only are there more students, but they are spending more. And of course, with more students, institutions are spending more to serve them."
The $9.7 billion "output impact" is a measure of sales in a community. The study calculated spending by each of the System's 34 institution on salaries and benefits, operating supplies and expenses ($3.8 billion), as well as spending by students who attend that particular institution ($2.6 billion). Of the $9.7 billion total, $6.4 billion (66 percent) is initial spending by the institutions and students; $3.3 billion (34 percent) is the multiplier effect of those dollars as they are spent again in the region. Humphreys found that on average, for every dollar of initial spending in a community by University System institutions, an additional 52 cents was generated for the local economy hosting a college or university.
Yet another component of the study is the analysis of the employment impact of all 34 institutions on their host communities. The impact on jobs is significant, accounting for $4.4 billion in salaries and wages for 106,831 full- and part-time employees. Approximately 62 percent of these jobs are off-campus positions in either the private or public sectors and 38 percent are on-campus employees of the University System. The study found that on average, for each job created on campus, there are 1.7 off-campus jobs that exist due to spending related to the institution. Jobs related to the University System account for about one in every 36 Georgia jobs.
Humphreys notes that the figures do not include spending by people who visit USG campuses to attend meetings, athletic events and reunions, spending by USG retirees living in a community, and income earned by USG employees through consulting and other activities.
"Another important aspect of this study is that we have very detailed data across institutions that can be used for a wide range of planning purposes by the Board of Regents or other state and local agencies and the private sector," said Humphreys.
The counties covered in the study related to North Georgia were Lumpkin, Hall, Dawson, White, Forsyth, and Union.
Gainesville College's area of impact includes Hall, Gwinnett, Jackson, White, Habersham, Lumpkin, Banks, and Forsyth.
Seven institutions in the metro Atlanta area
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May 18th, 2024
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