New report says URI is major economic engine for state
The University of Rhode Island generated about $518 million in economic activity statewide in 2002, nearly $5 for every $1 in state support for the University, according to a new report, A Partner for Prosperity: the University of Rhode Island’s Impact on the Economy of the Ocean State.
“These statistics show in a very clear way the importance of URI to the health and prosperity of our state,” said URI President Robert L. Carothers. “The report also shows that the University can be a powerful engine for economic development in Rhode Island, creating the kind of high paying, clean jobs we all seek.”
“We initiated this study because we wanted the people of Rhode Island to realize that the University of Rhode Island is an incredibly valuable resource,” said Janett Trubatch, URI’s vice provost for graduate studies, research and outreach. Appleseed Inc., a New York City consulting firm that works with non-profit organizations, corporations and governments interested in expanding economic growth, prepared the 44-page report.
“One of our missions at URI is to enhance the state’s economic development and its societal health and well-being, and this report clearly shows that we have a major impact in each of these areas,” Trubatch said.
Published earlier this year, the report says that in 2002 URI paid $46.6 million to Rhode Island businesses for goods and services, including construction. Between 1998 and 2003, research spending at URI increased by 56 percent (an average of 9.4 percent annually) to a total of $60.4 million. About 85 percent of the total was funded from federal contracts, making federally funded research an important growth business for the Ocean State. That research can also lead to the development of new business ventures, the report said. URI faculty, staff and students have translated research into 21 new companies and many new jobs in the state over the last several years.
Students are also a vital part of the economic story, according to the report. They spent $37 million off campus for housing, food, entertainment and
miscellaneous needs. “That $37 million is money spent in and around the campus and in other parts of the state,” Trubatch said.
“The University of Rhode is the Ocean State’s largest higher education institution, the leading supplier of college educated workers to the Rhode Island work force - a major employer of Rhode Island residents - one of the state’s leading research centers—and a vitally important mechanism for transferring useful knowledge from University labs and lecture halls to individuals, companies and communities throughout the state,” the report says. “In all of these roles, the University is a major contributor to the continuing development of Rhode Island’s economy.”
In addition to the University’s contributions to the state’s economic health, it also plays a major role in improving the
economic fortunes of its individual citizens. The 2000 census found that Rhode Islanders with four-year college degrees earned an average of $38,500, or 84 percent more than those with no formal education beyond high school. About 20 percent of all Ocean State residents with four-year degrees or higher are URI graduates.
Another major pillar of URI’s role as the state’s public university is outreach. There are 400 outreach programs serving communities throughout the state including those that: help improve the level of math and science education in elementary and secondary schools; assist individuals with serious illnesses and help them manage their medications; protect our natural resources through such initiatives as Watershed Watch and the Narragansett Bay Partnership; and help make Rhode Island businesses more productive and competitive.
By Dave Lavallee
