STONY BROOK, NY, Aug. 5, 2008 – Stony Brook University is more than a "flagship campus" of the SUNY system, it’s also a driving force of the Long Island economy. In fact, Stony Brook’s annual economic impact on Long Island is a staggering $4.65 billion, and the University generates 59,859 jobs. Furthermore, Stony Brook accounts for nearly four percent of all economic activity in Nassau and Suffolk counties and roughly 7.5 percent of total jobs in Suffolk County.
 |
| Academic Mall |
These are among the key findings of a new study by the Center for Regional Policy Studies, which conducts basic research in public policy issues and serves as a link between Stony Brook University and the public sector.
"Stony Brook University is a tremendous economic engine for Long Island and the region, and the impact is growing," said Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny. "And I would argue that Stony Brook represents one of the state’s best and savviest investments. With a return of over 2,000 percent, we’re the Warren Buffet of the SUNY system."
In fact, the study found that the state’s direct investment of $207.2 million in tax dollars results in a 2,300 percent return, or an economic gain of $23 for every dollar the state invests.
Moreover, Lee Koppelman, executive director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies, stated in the report that, "Without a doubt, Stony Brook is a crucial and irreplaceable asset to Long Island and the region. As Long Island’s only public research university, it produces the educated workforce that drives the area’s high-tech economy."
Koppelman explained that, while the numbers are impressive, Stony Brook’s economic development efforts will "likely exceed in magnitude by many factors anything it has done to present" with the recent creation of the Center for Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology, as well as its initiative to establish a research alliance between the University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
As it is, the University is already Long Island’s largest single-site employer, providing nearly 14,000 men and women with full-or-part-time jobs. It also generates 59,859 jobs throughout the Island and region by directly employing workers and indirectly through construction, purchasing and through the multiplier effect, or secondary impact.
According to the report, Stony Brook University’s total operating budget for 2007-2008 is $1.77 billion, which includes salaries and wages of $894.3 million, supplies and expenses of $753.1 million, equipment purchases of $49.8 million and $74.3 million on utility costs.
Other key findings in the study include:
- Stony Brook economic development programs bring an additional $59.4 million in economic revenues to the Long Island region (not including federal, state, and other revenue included in the operating budget)
- Stony Brook students and their families spend an additional $175.6 million in the Long Island economy not captured in the operating budget. When this is added to the $2.9 million spent by the University student government – a non-operating budget item – this translates into an additional 2,588 local jobs.
- Retired Stony Brook employees living on Long Island receive approximately $97.3 million in income from state pension payments and Social Security, which translates into an estimated 1,421 local jobs.
- In 2007-2008, Stony Brook operating expenditures (wages and salaries plus utilities, minus estimated employee expenditures for health care) are estimated to be $929.1 million. The multiplier effect, or secondary impact, of Stony Brook operating expenditures, generates an estimated $1.73 billion in increased economic output to the regional economy and 28,989 additional jobs.
- In 2007-2008, Stony Brook employees will spend an estimated $61.7 million on health care. The multiplier effect, or secondary impact, of employee health care expenditures generates an estimated $123.6 million in additional economic output to the regional economy and 2,308 additional jobs.
For a complete copy of the study, please visit www.stonybrook.edu/impact.
