USC Generates Big Bucks For the Economy - Nearly $5 Billion In Los Angeles County

June 24, 2009 - PRLog -- Los Angeles - A new independent economic study on the University of Southern California (USC) released today shows that the City of Los Angeles’ largest private sector employer is also one of California’s major economic engines, helping to keep Southern California's economy thriving.

    The new report, “Economic Impact Analysis of the University of Southern California Annual Operations,” shows that USC is responsible for $4.9 billion annually in economic activity in the L.A. region and beyond.

   The study, commissioned by the university, reviewed the impact of USC’s operational expenditures during the 2008 Fiscal Year.
 
   During that period, USC produced about $2.1 billion dollars in total direct spending: wage and payroll expenditures of $1 billion, capital projects spending of $130 million, and various purchasing expenditures of $430 million.  Students spent another $503 million for goods and services, while visitors to USC spent about $12 million in the region. For every dollar spent by USC in LA County, an additional 63 cents of output was created elsewhere in the regional economy.

     “We are proud to be a leader in higher education and a catalyst for the economy of Los Angeles,” said Steven B. Sample, president, University of Southern California. “Even in this economic downturn, we continue to provide thousands of full- and part-time jobs in a wide range of fields.

“USC also contributes to L.A.’s position as the Capital of the Pacific Rim, as innovators and entrepreneurs, producers of art and culture, and through substantial capital investment that ripples out beyond our city and state to the world.”  

     The University of Southern California is globally recognized as one of America’s top research universities with highly sought after programs in business, medicine, law, cinematic arts, engineering, and communication, among others.

     “USC is a vital economic engine for Southern California, and these recent findings show the global, national and local economic impact USC’s contributions have on the economy,” said study author, economist David E. Bergman.  He led the study creation at the firm Economics Research Associates.   

   During fiscal 2008, USC directly employed 26,990 persons, and stimulated another 19,100 jobs with its expenditures.  The average salary for USC’s non-student employees was $61,000.  

     “These study results support what we have known and have been saying when it comes to being the top economic engine in my district and our city,” said LA Councilman Bernard C. Parks, Council Dist. 8.  “The contributions USC makes financially, culturally and as corporate citizen help attract tourists, high caliber students and the workforce of the future.”  

   “We have construction projects that are generating income, taxes and creating jobs on campus,” explained Thomas S. Sayles, USC vice president for government and community relations. “This study includes the impacts of USC’s academic spending; it does not include the direct spending or impacts of USC-affiliated hospitals.”  

          Added Jack Kyser, founding economist at the Kyser Center for Economic Research at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), “USC is better positioned than ever to significantly impact not only the region’s economy but the world’s as well. “The University is a growing economic asset to the city and the region as a whole,” he said.

About the University of Southern California (USC)

   From the surrounding neighborhoods adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles to around the globe, the University of Southern California provides public leadership and public service in such diverse fields as health care, economic development, social welfare, scientific research, public policy and the arts.  USC, the largest private research university west of the Mississippi, serves the public interest by being the largest private employer in the city of Los Angeles, as well as the city’s largest export industry in the private sector.
 
[Editors note: For a copy of the report visit: http://tinyurl.com/n6x436 or media interviews please contact or images, George McQuade or Aida Mayo at MAYO Communications, Los Angeles, 818-340-5300 or 818-340-9229 or Publicity@MayoCommunications.com/home.htm.]

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