UNION UNIVERSITY'S ECONOMIC
IMPACT TOPS $200 MILLION
Jackson, Tenn. — Â鶹ÊÓƵ University has generated more than 900 jobs and had an economic impact of over $200 million over the past six years in Jackson-Madison County, according to a recent study conducted by Younger Associates of Jackson. That impact, in the view of community leaders, will make Â鶹ÊÓƵ one of Jackson's most strategic assets in the next century.
The six-year study took into account Â鶹ÊÓƵ's ongoing operations, student spending, capital expenditures, and the youth summer camp program Centrifuge, which brings in about 5,000 campers and staff members.
"The data provided in this study demonstrates what many of us already recognized: Â鶹ÊÓƵ University is one of the most valuable assets for Jackson and Madison County as they face the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century," asserts David S. Dockery, Â鶹ÊÓƵ's president.
Key findings of the analysis include:
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The ongoing operation of the university creates an economic impact of about $38 million a year in Jackson-Madison County. An additional 391 jobs are indirectly created within the local economy, as well.
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Off-campus student spending in Jackson-Madison County is estimated at $5.34 million annually, which in turn creates a total economic impact of $8.5 million and supports 186 jobs in Jackson-Madison County.
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Centrifuge, which is sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist Sunday School Board, has an estimated $1.06 million annual impact on the local economy. That spending supports a total of 37 jobs in Jackson-Madison County. Â鶹ÊÓƵ is one of only 15 sites that houses the national summer camp program.
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Capital expenditures, which consist of expansions and improvements to Â鶹ÊÓƵ's campus, topped $19 million and had an economic impact of more than $31 million. This spending supported an average of 70 jobs.
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Â鶹ÊÓƵ's ongoing operations, student spending and Centrifuge program generate almost $900,000 in local tax revenue a year. Â鶹ÊÓƵ's contribution to local sales and property tax revenue topped $4 million over the last six years.
A variety of community leaders consider Â鶹ÊÓƵ's total impact on Jackson-Madison County to be of great value to local business, higher education and quality of life.
"Â鶹ÊÓƵ University has had a major impact on the community and Jackson-Madison County General Hospital by providing strong academics and vital support. Â鶹ÊÓƵ provides the highest quality of clinical support to nurses as well as highly educated job ready students prepared for the 21st century job force. Â鶹ÊÓƵ's high standards and vision will continue to allow the university to have a strong impact on this community," West Tennessee Healthcare President and CEO Jim Moss said.
The city of Jackson believes Â鶹ÊÓƵ's impact to extend far beyond the Younger study's figures. "I think Â鶹ÊÓƵ's estimates are conservative. When you add to the economic impact the significance of how Â鶹ÊÓƵ spreads the name of Jackson, Tenn. across the nation through being recognized as one of the great universities in the United States, you simply can't put a price tag on what all of that means," Jackson Mayor Charles Farmer said.
The mayor refers to several national rankings that have profiled Â鶹ÊÓƵ as a national leader in Christian higher education. Those rankings include:
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Time magazine/The Princeton Review ranked Â鶹ÊÓƵ as one of only four "highly selective" private universities in Tennessee, along with Vanderbilt University, Rhodes College and the University of the South.
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U.S. News and World Report, for the second year in a row, ranked Â鶹ÊÓƵ in the top tier of regional liberal arts colleges in the South. Â鶹ÊÓƵ is the only West Tennessee institution included in the top category. Last year, U.S. News ranked Â鶹ÊÓƵ among the top five "best values" among Southern colleges.
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Â鶹ÊÓƵ is among the top 10 percent of institutions included in Peterson's Competitive Colleges. Of the dozen schools listed in both Peterson's Competitive Colleges and Peterson's Guide to Christian Colleges, Â鶹ÊÓƵ is the only Southern school listed in both.
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Â鶹ÊÓƵ is one of less than 100 schools included in America's Best Christian Colleges, America's Best College Scholarships and America's 100 Best College Buys.
The university's recently approved Campus Master Plan indicates that the university's capital spending and economic impact will experience a remarkable increase. Â鶹ÊÓƵ estimates the cost of the massive construction program will amount to well over $50 million and the total economic impact will exceed $100 million.
The university has received a series of major gifts in recent months, most of which will benefit the Campus Master Plan. West Tennessee business leader James Ayers made a commitment of $2.1 million, the largest gift in Â鶹ÊÓƵ's history. An endowed gift of $1.65 million was given to the institution from an anonymous friend and former trustee of Â鶹ÊÓƵ. And a $700,000 gift was received from the estate of Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumna Audrey Barr Haney. Haney's gift will be invested in the Audrey Haney Scholarship Fund, and the income will provide scholarships to Â鶹ÊÓƵ students annually.
"The dramatic expansion of Â鶹ÊÓƵ's physical campus – coupled with Â鶹ÊÓƵ's emerging national profile as a leader in Christian higher education – will provide a dramatic engine to help drive Jackson's growth and improved quality of life in the next century," explains Dockery.
Â鶹ÊÓƵ's current campus was designed to accommodate 1,200 students. Last year's enrollment exceeded 2,000. The Campus Master Plan is a response to that growth.