UC San Diego Makes $7.2 Billion Impact on California’s Economy
Ioana Patringenaru | Oct. 6, 2008
UC San Diego remains an anchor for the economy in the City of San Diego, the county and the state in these troubled times, according to an independent study released last week. The analysis found that the university contributes $7.2 billion in direct and indirect spending and personal income each year to the state’s economy and generates 39,000 jobs.
Chancellor Marye Anne Fox shakes hands with San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders during a press conference to unveil the results of a study looking at the university's economic impact.
“When economic times are difficult, UC San Diego remains strong and steadfast,” Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said Tuesday during a press conference to unveil the results of the study.
UCSD is less than 50 years old, but already can boast an impressive list of achievements, Fox also said. The independent study released last week gives a tangible estimate of the benefits the university provides for the region, the city and the state, Fox said.
In addition to spending and jobs created by the university itself, companies started by UC San Diego faculty and alumni inject more than $37 billion annually in the California economy and generate nearly 130,000 jobs. In San Diego County, these start-ups add approximately $32 billion in direct and indirect spending and personal income to the economy. These companies create nearly 115,000 jobs, the report found.
“When we think about job creation, when we think about technology, when we think about the life sciences, when we think about all the things that have helped San Diego grow both nationally and internationally, we think about UC San Diego first,” said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, who also took part in Tuesday’s press conference.
The mayor went on to thank the university for its contributions to the city. “The university plays a vital role in boosting our local economy, expanding our skilled workforce and driving the technological future of San Diego,” the mayor said. He also pointed out the university creates good-paying, steady jobs. The study, Sanders added, validates the impact of the campus on the city and county. “UC San Diego is an outstanding feature in our community’s economic landscape,” he said.
The report and its findings
Vice Chancellor Gary Matthews detailed the report's findings during Tuesday's press conference.
UCSD’s Economic Impact Report was conducted by CBRE Consulting, Inc. of San Francisco, which examined UCSD’s academic programs, alumni, faculty, research, employment, spending, students and visitors for fiscal year 2006-07 to create an overall picture of the university’s economic impact.
“We knew that the university’s economic impact would be significant and the report certainly has shown that,” Vice Chancellor Gary Matthews said Tuesday.
The analysis found:
- In San Diego County alone, the university’s annual contribution to the economy is $5.7 billion in direct and indirect spending and personal income; UCSD generates more than 33,600 jobs locally.
- UCSD, the third largest employer in San Diego County, pays more than $1.1 billion in salaries and wages to nearly 27,000 faculty, staff, healthcare and student workers.
- In total salaries and wages, purchasing of goods and services, and construction, UCSD spent nearly $2.5 billion in FY 2006-07, of which $1.7 billion was spent in San Diego County.
- Every $1 in direct UCSD spending generates an additional 92 cents in indirect spending in the county.
- Faculty and alumni of UCSD have started 67 currently active companies in California that generate more than $10 billion in annual sales, of which $8.8 billion comes from Qualcomm, Inc., founded in San Diego by former UC San Diego professor Irwin Jacobs.
Start-ups and spin-offs
Steve Hart, a UCSD alumnus, co-founded ViaSat, a Carlsbad-based telecommunications company.
Steve Hart is one of the alumni that went on to become an entrepreneur. He co-founded Carslbad-based ViaSat, a telecommunications company that made the list of BusinessWeek’s “100 Best Small Corporations” and Forbes’ “200 Best Small Companies in America.” Hart now serves as ViaSat’s chief technical officer.
“The size of the economic impact isn’t a surprise for those who stay close to the university,” said Hart, who graduated from UCSD with a master’s in mathematics in 1980.
He remembers that the university provided him with an exciting environment to learn and allowed him to meet the people who ultimately put him on the path to success. “It was an era when ideas where everywhere,” he said of his time at UCSD. After he graduated, Hart went to work for Jacobs’ Linkabit from 1982 to 1986.
UCSD is a key partner for start-up companies, Hart added. UCSD graduates are the number one source of new employees for his company. The university also provides access to cutting-edge research and a place where employees can come and further their education, he added.
“We’re really fortunate to have a world-class research institution in our backyard,” Hart said.
Providing a skilled workforce
Tyler Green, a senior, edits a journal of undergraduate research.
Perhaps UCSD’s biggest contributions to the workforce is its students, Chancellor Fox said. One of the campus’ unique features is involving undergraduates in research very early on, Fox said. Tyler Green, a senior bound for medical school, is a perfect example. “I chose UCSD because it’s one of the top-ranked universities in the world,” Green said.
But he was amazed to find that all it took to get involved in research was contacting the professor who taught his freshman seminar, Larry Squire. Today, Green conducts research in Squire’s lab at the department of psychiatry at the UCSD School of Medicine, under the direction of Robert Clark, a psychiatry researcher. Green also is the editor of the Saltman Quarterly, a research journal dedicated to undergraduate papers.
“I do know that because of this, one day, I could make a difference in someone’s life,” Green said during Tuesday’s press conference.
Taking care of patients and the community at large
In addition to the impact the university has on the economy and the research community, UCSD also makes dramatic contributions to improve San Diegan’s quality of life, said Vice Chancellor Matthews. For example, the UCSD Medical Center serves 21,000 inpatients and 476,000 outpatients every year.
UCSD alumni Alexis and Patrick Conerty with their son, Aaron, who was saved by doctors at the UCSD Medical Center after a difficult birth.
Alexis Conerty was one of them. In January 2007, she came to the medical center to give birth. Instead, she found herself in the middle of a battle to save her son’s life. He had inhaled a large amount of fluid during the birthing process and had trouble breathing. “The first moments of Aaron’s life were terrifying” Conerty recalled at Tuesday’s press conference. Baby Aaron was taken to the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where doctors took steps that saved his life, Conerty recalls.
To this day, tears well up when she talks about that difficult time. Since then, the medical center has constantly followed up with the family, Conerty said. Aaron is now a happy and healthy 20-month-old toddler, his mother said.
“My husband and I cannot thank the UCSD Medical Center enough for saving our child,” said Conerty, who also is a UCSD alumna.
Beyond the medical center, UCSD also contributes to the arts, culture, health and welfare and educational outreach in the region, said Vice Chancellor Matthews, citing many examples, including the Birch Aquarium, the Stuart Collection and local health clinics.
“UC San Diego’s impact can be measured in more than dollars,” he said.
Jim Gogek contributed to this report.
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