Study: SSU injects $213 million into local economy
University also stimulates quality of life in Sonoma County
Published: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 2:41 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 2:41 p.m.
Sonoma State University injects hundreds of millions of dollars into the Bay Area economy, according to a new study commissioned by the California State University system.
The study examined all 23 CSU campuses and found that SSU-related spending is $213 million a year.
Sonoma State has a budget of $77 million this year and the equivalent of 6,983 full time students.
Taking into account the multiplier effect of money spent by students, faculty, the university and its auxiliary operations — which stimulates jobs and more spending — the university has an overall economic impact of $330 million.
The study found that students who come from out of the region spend $23.8 million a year. Another $9.6 million a year is spent in SSU’s bookstore and cafeterias, and $42 million is spent on construction and other physical improvements. Annual salaries and services, the largest share, account for $137 million.
Together, those dollars support more than 2,500 jobs in the region and generate more than $19 million in local tax revenue, the study found.
While those numbers seem large, they should be viewed in context, said Robert Eyler, director of SSU’s Regional Center for Economic Analysis.
“On strict economic numbers, SSU is pretty significant when you think about the North Bay region,” he said. “It’s relatively insignificant when you think about the larger Bay Area.”
Measured in terms of gross product, Sonoma County has about a $20 billion economy, Eyler said. Marin County has about the same, while Napa County’s is about $11 billion.
SSU’s impact also can be measured in ways that extend beyond economics, said Ben Stone, director of Sonoma County’s Economic Development Board.
“It is important to go beyond the dollars and cents and look at the intangible contributions it makes as a university here,” he said, “in terms of arts and culture, of stimulating new thinking in all sorts of ways.”
He noted as well that the university’s schools — particularly nursing, education and engineering and science — feed employees into important sectors of the local economy.
For example, 70 percent of the students who graduate with a master’s degree in engineering science take jobs in the North Bay’s technology industry.
“There are all sorts of indirect benefits that provide stimulation to our economy but also to our quality of life,” he said.
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