The University of Miami, one of the nation’s premier research institutions and one of the area’s largest private employers, has a local economic impact of $4.5 billion, according to results of a new study conducted by The Washington Economics Group.
The University of Miami is one of South Florida’s intellectual resources, as well as an internationally prominent research institution,” said University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala. “UM’s multifaceted and knowledge-based operations generate growing levels of added-value jobs for South Florida while increasing the supply of highly trained college graduates.”
“The University of Miami’s strategic development has boosted the South Florida economy,” said Joe Natoli, UM’s Senior Vice President for Business and Finance and CFO. “We continue to attract top professionals in their field, build state-the-art facilities for our students and faculty and expand patient services.” The University’s development into one of the nation’s top research institutions mirrors South Florida’s emergence as a thriving global marketplace,” said Natoli.
The history of dynamic synergy between the University and its community has been abundantly evident in several dimensions, but perhaps nowhere is it more apparent than in the economic impact the University has on Miami-Dade County. In particular, UM is a powerful catalyst for economic development in Coral Gables, where the University is the city’s largest economic enterprise and is responsible for a large percentage of its workforce and a significant share of its labor income. The study found that UM has an economic impact totaling $1.23 billion on the Coral Gables economy, and approximately 40 percent of its payroll is paid to employees living in the city. UM supports 11,256 jobs and $579 million in labor income to employees in Coral Gables.
In 2007, the University provided employment for 11,700 people on all of its campuses, with 90 percent residing in Miami-Dade County, who were compensated a total of $875 million. The total employment impact, however, as a result of operations, capital expenditures and spending by students and visitors, is approximately 42,000 jobs. More than 70,000 visitors attended University-sponsored academic events and spent an estimated $71 million, and UM students from outside the area spent an estimated $236 million in the local economy. Overall, the University and its out-of-town students and guests injected almost $2 billion into the county’s economy in 2007, the study found. The University’s total operating and capital cash outlays in fiscal year 2007 were budgeted at $1.6 billion.
The University recently shattered expectations by completing its Momentum: The Campaign for the University of Miami, raising $1.4 billion, the largest fundraising effort ever undertaken by a university in Florida at the time. Currently, UM is engaged in its most ambitious construction program in its history, with nearly $1.5 billion in current and planned projects.
The University has long been one of the community’s pioneering institutions, having opened its doors only one year after Coral Gables was incorporated and just 30 years after the founding of the City of Miami.
Beyond its economic impact, the University of Miami enriches the overall quality of life in South Florida in areas encompassing everything from health care and community revitalization to the arts and athletics, and by giving back to the community. In fact, in 2007, UM employees raised an impressive $1.13 million for the United Way.
To read the report visit The University of Miami
Source: The University of Miami Release
