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WVU's statewide impact totals $3.9 billion, according to study
For each $1 appropriated to WVU, there is $19 in economic activity

A new study released today (Feb.19) measures the enormous economic impact West Virginia University and affiliated organizations – WVU campuses around the state, WVU Hospitals and the West Virginia United Health System - have on West Virginia. The study reveals that WVU is generating $3.9 billion annually in economic impact to the state.

“This report illustrates the stunning scope of WVU’s impact statewide,” said WVU President Mike Garrison. “In 2007, WVU and affiliate organizations received $203.2 million in state appropriations. Every dollar that the state legislature spent on WVU turned into $19 in the state economy. In terms of generating the greatest return for each dollar spent, it’s quite clear that an investment in WVU is an investment in West Virginia.”

The study was commissioned by the University and was released by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research in the WVU College of Business and Economics. The study authors were Bureau Director Tom Witt and bureau economists Amy Higginbotham and Randall Childs. The focus of the study is to quantify the directly measurable benefits associated with WVU’s operation on the West Virginia economy. Among the economic impacts estimated in the study are business volume, employment, employee compensation, output, value added and assorted state taxes.

“It is well-known that WVU has a major impact on West Virginia through its education, economic development, research, health care and service programs,” said Witt. “This report shows that WVU and affiliated organizations also have profound economic impact on the state - nearly $4 billion annually.”

According to the study, people are among the driving forces behind WVU’s statewide economic impact.

Based on the study’s findings, WVU and affiliated organizations accounted for $1.2 billion of employee compensation and 35,700 jobs in the state. WVU and affiliated organizations’ activities also generated an estimated $57.4 million of tax revenue for the state through consumer sales and use tax, personal income tax, corporate net income tax, and business franchise tax. 

 “Land-grant institutions like WVU are unique in their enormous potential for improving the quality of life of the people of their home state,” Garrison added. “West Virginians benefit from WVU’s continued commitment to serving our state. We drive economic and social development; and we take education to people in their own homes and healthcare to citizens in their own communities. WVU touches every community—nearly every person—in this state.”

Through its physical presence across West Virginia, WVU does just that. Along with its regional campuses in Keyser, Montgomery, and Parkersburg, four WVU hospitals are located in Martinsburg, Ranson, Clarksburg, and Morgantown. WVU also reaches out to all parts of the state through extension offices in every county, clinics, and partnerships with health care providers throughout the state, as well as, farms and forests located throughout the state.

Highlights of the fiscal year 2007 total economic impacts of WVU and affiliated organizations include:

·        Total number of jobs created was 35,700.

·        Total business volume generated was $3.9 billion.

·        Total output generated was $3.3 billion.

·        Total employee compensation was $1.15 billion.

·        Total value added created was $1.7 billion.

·        Total assorted state taxes (consumer sales and use, personal income, corporate net income, and business franchise) resulting from WVU and affiliated organizations was $57.4 million.

To download a copy of the economic impact study, go to www.bber.wvu.edu