A day after unveiling the size and scope of Oregon State University's economic footprint to an audience of 300 in Portland, OSU President Ed Ray returned to Corvallis on Thursday to present the same findings to an audience of around 60 in the LaSells Stewart Center.
That footprint totals $2.06 billion, according to Eugene-based consultants ECONorthwest.
Compared to Oregon's other public and private colleges and universities, Ray said, the 25,000-student OSU has the greatest financial impact in the state.
"No other public entity can claim that reach," said Ray, who was a faculty member in Ohio State University's economics department for 33 years before coming to OSU.
While the study provides big-picture totals about the university, OSU officials can also delve into local data:
• The economic footprint equals about $950 million in the mid-valley.
• OSU drew 535,000 visitors to Corvallis last year for athletic and university events and activities. Those visitors spent about $32 million locally.
• OSU also employs 6,615 full-time workers, most of them on the Corvallis campus.
• While OSU students spent about $250 million on their education last year - tuition, books, supplies - they accounted for $11,000 in discretionary spending each. "We don't want to get into what they spent their money on," Ray joked.
Ray also allowed for time for questions from the audience, which ranged from the Pac-12 television deal to parking troubles in Corvallis. He also plugged the collaborative effort between OSU and the city of Corvallis, which aims to temper town-gown issues spurred by rapid student enrollment growth in recent years.
One audience member asked Ray for a status update on his goal of making OSU a top-10 land grant university, given ECONorthwest's findings.
While the university is on the right track, Ray said OSU has a while to go: "This is a 20- to 30-year proposition, at best."
ECONorthwest's work began in November, and the nonprofit OSU Foundation commissioned the three-part study that looked at OSU's economic, research and alumni impact. The economic and research studies cost $35,000 and $10,000 respectively; the alumni study is still under way, and the final cost is unknown.
OSU plans to release the alumni survey data within the next few weeks.
When the state Legislature reconvenes next month, the study's results may give the university a boost when it asks lawmakers for bonds to cover the cost of three construction projects - the Student Experience Center, a classroom building and a residence hall - that weren't funded at the end of the last session in June.
But the study was not scheduled with the legislative session in mind, said Todd Simmons, a spokesman for OSU. Most large universities, especially land grants, conduct third-party economic and social impact studies every two to three years as a way to accurately show their stakeholders their progress and programs, he said.
OSU's last impact study was conducted about five years ago.
Contact Gazette-Times reporter Gail Cole at 541-758-9510 or gail.cole@gazettetimes.com.
