In an attempt to challenge the thought that tax-exempt universities do not contribute back to their locality's revenue, Boston's eight major research universities released the 102-page report "Engines of Economic Growth: The Economic Impact of Boston's Eight Research Universities on the Metropolitan Boston Area."
The report, which declared that the eight schools contribute over 7.4 billion dollars into the metropolitan region each year, is the first to detail the combined impact of the institutions. It also said that the eight schools, including Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts-Boston, "will play a key role in the region's economic recovery by continuing to expand knowledge and technology that creates new industries and jobs."
"BC has a very special place in this group," said Jean McKeigue, BC's director of Community Affairs, and a member of the committee that put together the economic report, in a press release. "We have a place not just as a research university, but also as an institution that has a very definite impact on the future of our community."
Paul S. Grogan, author of Comeback Cities: A Blueprint for Urban Neighborhood Revival, told the Harvard Crimson that "these universities have a staggering impact on the greater Boston area, and this report is an attempt to show that influence.
"The report is an emphasis that in a world where knowledge is power, not only the huge businesses are generating huge revenues," he said.
"Collectively, our eight institutions are developers and employers of talent, incubators of business and industry, storehouses of cultural resources, research centers, purchasers, economic magnets, and community partners committed to our state and local governments," the leaders of the eight Boston-area schools wrote in an introduction to the report.
According to the Office of Public Affairs, BC contributes nearly $1 billion to the region's economic stability. Additionally, the University has 3,100 employees and 14,000 students.
The report said that the schools' combined 118,300 students add over $850 million into the local economy, spending their money on food, entertainment, and transportation.
Additionally, the report said that the universities contribute to the overall construction improvements through the construction of housing, streets, and other increases in environmental benefits. Combined, they plan on pumping over $850 million into construction, which will support 5,100 full-time construction jobs over that time span.
Many of the cultural resources available through the universities have also had a positive impact on the surrounding community. "All of the universities provide important cultural resources for the Boston area, myriad concerts, exhibits, and lectures open to the public," said the report.
McKeigue said that the contributions that BC makes to the surrounding Newton and Allston-Brighton community, enhance the University's economic impact.
"From the students who volunteer in neighborhoods, to the faculty and staff who are in the community working with citizens to form solutions to our problems, to the alumni who are officials of companies and government agencies, we are helping to provide actual life-changing initiatives."
Programs like 4Boston, PULSE, and Big Brother funnel the University's students to schools, shelters, and other volunteer institutions in the surrounding community to assist in those program's day-to-day runnings.
As the economy dips, these eight universities represent some of the only industries positively contributing to the financial stability of the region.
"The universities and their affiliated hospitals make up the two sectors of the economy that have added jobs in the current downturn," the report said. "Four of the universities, plus five affiliated medical centers employing 51,800 people, are among the top 25 employers in Massachusetts."
In two years, the schools added 2,000 more positions to the local job market. The total combined payroll in 2002, according to the report, was $2.5 billion with $2.2 billion of that going to residents of the Boston metropolitan area.
The report, also focuses on the universities' contributions to Boston's ever-growing computing and biotechnology industries.
"The universities have also served as a magnet to a number of national and international companies that have located or are developing major research operations in the Boston area," the report said. "Among them are Amgen, Cisco, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sun Microsystems."
"The research universities not only provide the raw talent of recent graduates to fill some of these positions but can also develop programs that can certify and retrain professionals from other fields limited by the increasing obsolescence of their current industries," the report said.
BC has historically had strained relations with the leaders of the surrounding community.
Since the mid-1990s, the Newton Board of Aldermen has challenged several of BC's construction projects, most poignantly the University's Middle Campus Project. Currently, the project is held up in the State Appellate Court after the Board refused to approve it.
Though the Alderman have not received an application for the proposed 900,000 square foot Route 9 project, they have responded with favorable views and have not hinted that they would hold up the project.
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