Jordan explains the economic impact MSU has on the state
It is needless to say that Mississippi State University has a significant impact on the state’s economy, but just how significant?
Vice President of MSU Research and Economic Development Julie Jordan explained the institution’s everincreasing role in the state’s overall economic development efforts to the Starkville Rotary Club on Monday.
According to a recent study conducted during the 2018-19 fiscal year, MSU generates a significant return for not only students but also taxpayers and society. While the results focus on economic impacts that can be quantified, MSU’S overall influence extends well beyond the statistics of the report.
“We decided to break this down just a little bit and not just look at the overall impact that Mississippi State has but various components of things that we do,” said Jordan. “The first being operation spending, and obviously, that mostly comes from our payroll and the rippling effects of our payroll in the state. The next comes from research spending for the research enterprise and I’m really pleased to say our research activities, based up of about $260 million worth of expenditures, add a net impact of over $200 million.”
According to the recent
study Jordan presented on Monday, MSU added $1.8 billion in income to the Mississippi economy, a value that is approximately equal to 1.6 percent of the state’s total gross state product. In terms of jobs, MSU’S impact has supported approximately 29,016 jobs; in perspective, the activities of MSU and its students support one out of every 55 jobs in the state.
Of the factors that were looked at when the study was conducted, former MSU students who are now employed in Mississippi was the biggest, representing a net impact of $935.8 million in added income to the state.
“The thousands and thousands of the alumni that we have across Mississippi, because of their increased lifetime earnings and the ripple effects in the fact that they’re more healthy, they have better wellbeing and they give back to their communities, it is clearly the largest economic impact for Mississippi State. That’s a fun number because that’s a number that grows every year as we add more graduates to the state,” Jordan said.
Looking at the investment analysis, for every dollar, MSU students gain $3.30 in lifetime earnings, Mississippi taxpayers gain $2.30 in tax revenue and public sector savings, and the Mississippi society as a whole gains $2.30 in added income and social savings.
Jordan also mentioned that over the years, MSU has reeled in $42.5 million from out-of-state visitors attracted to on-campus events and activities.
For next week’s Starkville Rotary Club meeting, Starkville Police Chief Mark Ballard will speak to the Rotarians as he delivers an update on local law enforcement.