Playoffs Help Make Impact
12/1/2011 8:33:00 AM | Football
When Sam Houston State plays host to Stony Brook Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. national attention and hundreds of visitors will be drawn to the Huntsville, Conroe and Woodlands area.
The game will be televised worldwide on the internet on EPSN3 and will be available on ESPN Pay-Per-View. Already the game has drawn regional attention with TV news, radio and newspaper articles and interviews.
Visitors to the area can use the following link to learn of other exciting events going on during the playoff weekend as well as find hotel and other information at SHSU athletic visitors' guide.
Area businesses also are helping the Bearkat football team by providing a special $5 discount on tickets to the game for Sam Houston State students.
The NCAA Division I Football Playoffs show just another aspect of how Sam Houston State University"pays its own way" and is a major contributor to the economic vitality of the community, according to a new independent economic and fiscal impact report released by Southwest Business Research of Houston.
"We are proud that as a significant enterprise in its own right and through our mission of education, research and service, Sam Houston State University makes a positive impact in the region where we are located," said SHSU President Dana Gibson.
Gibson said the study provides the community with an objective assessment of the value of the university as a business in the community and not just the value of education of the workforce.
"Institutions of higher education are uniquely positioned to assist with driving economic development and growth," she said.
During the 2010 fiscal year, direct spending by the university, its employees, students and visitors, as well as indirect spending by recipients of the original expenditures, accounted for $108.5 million to the City of Huntsville and $111 million to Walker County, according to the study.
The university supported an estimated 3,268 citywide jobs directly and indirectly, and total personal income generated in Huntsville was $100.6 million. This resulted in $3.7 million in local purchases of durable, long-lasting goods such as cars, washers, dryers and air conditioners.
The university generated $1.30 in local public sector revenues for every $1 it cost the city, according to the report. Although SHSU is a tax-exempt public educational institution, its employees and others with whom business is conducted pay taxes to local taxing authorities to support public sector activities such as schools, fire and police protection, sanitation and water quality.
"When our faculty, staff and students buy items with their salaries or other funding, they pay a sales tax," Gibson said. "Employees who live in the area pay property taxes or their landlords pay property taxes. When individuals visit campus, they stay in hotels and buy items and pay taxes."
Gibson noted that SHSU is not a financial burden to the City of Huntsville, thereby generating tax dollars indirectly.
"We provide much of our own infrastructure-police, roads, utilities-that are common municipal services," she said. The report also estimates that on average, SHSU's operational activity adds more than $63 million per year to the local bank credit base.
When the geographic scope of the study increased to include Walker and Montgomery Counties, the measures for SHSU increased, as well.
The impact magnitude increases from the City of Huntsville to Walker County were modest since the City of Huntsville comprises much of Walker County's activity, according to the report. However, when activity from Montgomery County was added, there was a significant increase.
"Montgomery County was included in the study because of the increasing number of SHSU faculty and students living there and the upcoming opening of The Woodlands campus," Gibson said.
Business volume rose to $149.4 million, personal income expanded to $124.7 million and the total employment impact from SHSU operational activity increased to 3,798 jobs. Gibson also pointed out that SHSU contributes to the area in more ways than those that can be measured, such as learned skills, research findings, public service functions, social and cultural gains, business attraction effects, and general quality of life improvements.
"Just think of the ready-educated workforce that SHSU provides with about 3,500 graduates annually," she said. "Also, our students, faculty and staff volunteer thousands of hours, in addition to donations, that impact the quality of health and human services in the regions. Our programs, such as lectures, arts, and sport events, provide the community with features one would find in a much larger community."
Gibson said that the economic impact report is one of many ongoing approaches the university will use to demonstrate in objective ways its impact on and benefit to the region and state, as well as proactively show good fiduciary accountability.
