Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 9, 1993 TAG: 9302090355
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
TECH: STUDY SHOWS IT'S A MAJOR MONEY FORCE
Nearly a third of the jobs in Montgomery County are related to Virginia Tech, according to a study released Monday.If the university were a factory, it would be easy to count the number of people on the assembly line. But it's more complex than that, says Thomas G. Johnson, a professor in agricultural economics and author of the study.
"We wanted to be able to tell not just immediate impact, but the trickle down . . . the ripple effect into the rest of the region."
Johnson and his assistants ran a series of figures through a model that would determine the number of jobs indirectly brought about by the university - jobs produced by research, for example, or jobs in the service sector, such as transportation work brought about by visitors to the campus.
Direct jobs are people actually on Tech's payroll.
The university's gross economic impact on the region is $726.6 million, the study says. The university has created a total of 4,819 indirect jobs in the New River and Roanoke valleys, which, added to the number of Tech employees, totals 10,284 jobs.
About nine jobs are created in the community for every 10 jobs on campus, the study says.
Johnson did not factor in the impact of a fully functioning Hotel Roanoke, Tech's future convention center, or a bond referendum that would put more than $40 million of new construction into Montgomery County.
The Hotel Roanoke likely would provide an additional 350 jobs a year and bring more than $10 million into Roanoke's economy, said Raymond Smoot, Tech's vice president for business affairs.
The study was started before the referendum passed, before Roanoke raised the money necessary to reopen the hotel.
The highlights are in a glossy, maroon brochure that will be sent to various people in the local communities, said Tech President James McComas.
And yes, the legislators probably will get a copy, too. But the report is not part of a lobbying effort, he said. It is instead an effort to educate Tech administrators and the community about the university's contributions.
"We haven't done a study of this kind for years," McComas said.
The study also shows the importance of out-of-state students to boosting the local economy, he said.
The study also shows the impact of a series of budget cuts on the university: 380 unfilled positions at Tech and an additional loss of 353 indirect jobs.
Johnson said the study confirms something Tech administrators already knew - the importance of the university to the New River Valley and surrounding area.
"If we were to wake up tomorrow and the university weren't here, those [indirect] jobs would disappear, too," Johnson said.
Johnson said his figures were conservative.
The sectors most significantly affected by Tech include: real estate, banking, insurance and financial services, restaurants, business and professional services, entertainment, transportation and medical services.
The report was funded with a grant from the university's Community Resource Development Division.
\ INDIRECT EFFECT ON NEW RIVER, ROANOKE\ AMOUNTS GIVEN IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS\ TOTALSALES NO.OF EMPLOYEES\ Realestate, housing $71 367\ Utilities, public service 43 385\ Banking, insurance, finance 44 599\ Retail trade 26 575\ Wholesale trade 20 277\ Business, professional services 21 443\ Transportation 22 249\ Health, medicalservices 19 356\ Eating, drinking establishments 21 471\ Entertainment, personal services 10 304\ Other 63 793\ TOTAL $360 4,819