By Stefanie Dion Jones '00 (CLAS)

At a time when projections for the national economy appear gloomy, the University of Connecticut is playing a stabilizing role in the state’s economy and contributing to the state’s long-term economic vitality. A nine-month economic study released earlier this year indicates that ongoing operations at the University added $2.3 billion to Connecticut’s gross domestic product in fiscal year 2008.

Using Regional Economic Models, Inc. (REMI), a widely used structural economic forecasting model, Stanley McMillen, chief economist at the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, found that for every state dollar allocated to UConn, including the Health Center, more than five dollars is added to the state’s gross domestic product (GDP). He also writes that, as a result of ongoing University operations, Connecticut businesses experience $3.2 billion in new sales.

“The University is a very significant economic factor for the state of Connecticut,” says McMillen. “It employs a lot of people and creates an educated workforce for Connecticut businesses and state government. There’s a ready source of highly talented people coming out of this system, and they’re all the type of people this state needs.”

Among the study’s findings:

• UConn receives total state support of $456 million and, as a result of that support, attracts an additional $713.5 million to the state’s economy;
• More than 29,000 jobs are generated in the state by the University;
• Nearly 70 percent of UConn graduates remain in Connecticut, contributing to the state’s knowledge-based workforce and economy;
• The University received nearly $200 million in sponsored grants in 2008, including more than $92 million for biomedical research at the UConn Health Center.

Throughout the state, citizens benefit from UConn’s presence, whether the University is partnering with private businesses to help boost the economy, serving as a vital resource for state agencies and their clients or reaching out across Connecticut to assist in protecting the health of citizens and the environment.

Partnering with Businesses

From family owned business operations to the Fortune 500 corporations headquartered across Connecticut, a myriad of businesses form the foundation of the state’s diversified economy. UConn fortifies this business community by teaming up with innovative partners to help pioneer new products and build more viable businesses.

Major corporations join forces with the University to solve industry problems. High-tech firms enjoy access to lab facilities. Even emerging companies turn to UConn for advice on legal issues. Through these mutually beneficial collaborations, business owners, UConn faculty and students are coming together to raise Connecticut’s competitiveness to an unprecedented level.

Advancing Research and Innovation

On the research front, faculty and students are making breakthroughs in a wide range of disciplines, from engineering to education and in promising new scientific fields such as stem cell and fuel cell research and nanotechnology.

Supported by more than $200 million in sponsored research grants and awards in 2008 alone, the leaders of these University research efforts are poised to bring to the marketplace invaluable discoveries that have the potential to foster business development and attract industry, as well as positively transform the everyday lives of citizens in Connecticut and beyond.

UConn scientists are hard at work learning what makes stem cells grow, how to affect their development and, ultimately, how to turn them into therapies to treat a host of diseases.

The state-of-the-art Stem Cell Institute facility at the Health Center campus now serves as home for collaborative new stem cell research, uniting UConn’s scientists in unlocking the promising secrets of stem cells. Earlier this year the Institute announced that its researchers had already created two new human embryonic stem cell lines (Related stem cell story).

Faculty advancements into nanotechnology – in which materials are examined and manipulated on a molecular scale – hold enormous potential in diagnosing and treating disease, strengthening military defense capabilities and building far more sophisticated electronics. UConn is actively pursuing these and other scientific endeavors, which promise to transform lives and lead to positive impacts on a global scale.

The GE edgelab at UConn’s Stamford campus; biomedical researchers Liisa Kuhn and Jon Goldberg at the UConn Health Center; and solar panels produced by UConn engineering professor Geoff Taylor’s Opel, Inc., a Connecticut-based company. Photos on this page: F. J. Gaylor, Lanny Nagler, Paul Horton, Peter Morenus, and Judy Griesdieck

Protecting Health and the Environment

Preserving the environment and promoting the health of Connecticut’s citizens are crucial to the well-being of Connecticut’s economy. UConn supports advanced research in the public interest that will help lead to a healthier workforce and, ultimately, greater productivity.

Scientists across the University are investigating renewable energy sources such as solar energy and biodiesel production. Students are actively engaged in promoting more sustainable ways of campus living.

Others are teaching underserved parts of the state how to live more active, healthful lives. Environmental sustainability initiatives are of great importance to the University, which has implemented a range of policies, integrating green thinking into campus building construction, buying local produce and raising bees for honey production.

Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today

UConn – Connecticut’s flagship institution of higher learning – draws top students and distinguished faculty to its campuses year after year. As of fall 2008, more than 29,000 full-time undergraduates and graduates were enrolled at UConn’s campuses statewide.

Graduating with degrees in programs as diverse as engineering, education, fine arts and medicine, many of these students will serve as the foundation for much of Connecticut’s future workforce.

The University equips these graduates with the knowledge they need to become among the state’s most highly skilled professional workforce, corporate leaders and entrepreneurs – who meet the needs of citizens throughout the state and help attract industries that offer greater economic opportunity.

In fact, it is estimated that 7 out of 10 UConn graduates remain in Connecticut upon graduating, putting their knowledge and innovation to work across the state; thus growing the economic strength of Connecticut.

Serving as doctors and dentists, shaping government policy, running thriving businesses, realizing scientific breakthroughs and teaching schoolchildren, this well-educated workforce ensures that Connecticut thrives in today’s increasingly competitive market.

The Connecticut Repertory Theatre in the School of Fine Arts; raising bees to produce honey for use in campus dining halls as part of UConn’s environmental sustainabilty program; shoppers participating in an outreach program in Hartford that is part of the Connecticut Center for Eliminating Health Disparities Among Latinos Program.

Enhancing the Quality of Life in Communities

With a long-standing tradition of public service, the University supports hundreds of outreach programs and partnerships that enhance the social and economic welfare of Connecticut’s communities.

Students from UConn, including the UConn Health Center, contributed more than 31,000 hours to volunteer work in 2008 – from providing pro bono tax assistance and legal representation to mentoring children from inner-city neighborhoods to providing medical care in neighborhood health clinics.

At the same time, UConn’s contributions to fine arts, athletic and recreational activities energize the Connecticut economy and enhance citizens’ quality of life. University museums, performing arts venues, sporting events and other cultural programs each year attract upward of 1 million people to UConn’s campuses.

UConn athletic events alone annually draw more than 320,000 enthusiastic Husky fans to Hartford’s XL Center for basketball games and another 225,000 to East Hartford for Division I football at Rentschler Field. More than 100,000 tourists, residents and students visit the UConn Dairy Bar annually to enjoy dozens of flavors of UConn’s homemade ice cream.

Attendance at theatrical performances and workshops at the Connecticut Repertory Theatre – the theatre production group of UConn’s School of Fine Arts – annually exceeds 20,000 patrons. Altogether, visitors exploring these many events generate $18 million in new revenue for the state each year.

“UConn’s economic impact reaches across the state,” says McMillen. “No other Connecticut institution of higher learning matches the far-reaching effect that UConn has on the state, its communities, individuals and industries.”

“Institutions of higher education, and particularly public research universities, are uniquely positioned to assist their states and our nation as a whole in driving economic innovation and growth,” says UConn President Michael J. Hogan.

“This report substantiates why UConn is a sound and necessary investment in the future of our citizens and our state.”

Full report available at http://www.uconn.edu/uconnomy.

Shaping Connecticut's Future

The 2009 economic study, which describes the support UConn provides to the state, demonstrates the variety of programs that touch industries across Connecticut.

Researchers are forging new and collaborative partnerships across the University’s campuses. Citizens have come to depend on the broad range of health, education and other outreach services provided by students and faculty. And residents and visitors alike continue to enjoy the University’s contributions to a finer quality of life through arts, athletics and recreational programs.

Most importantly, the University continues year after year to produce a continuous stream of talented, knowledgeable professionals who keep the state of Connecticut moving forward.

In 2008, UConn educated more than 29,000 students and awarded nearly 7,000 degrees. Yet the University’s presence extends far beyond the thousands it educates and graduates.

For instance, UConn buys more than $312 million annually in goods and services in Connecticut, which has the dual benefit of helping to lower prices and stimulate local businesses across the state.

UConn students help to boost the state’s economy as well, injecting $430 million annually through consumer spending across Connecticut.

The University also is shaping and strengthening the state’s economic, social, cultural and natural landscape. Industry leaders, fledgling companies, fellow higher education institutions and state agencies are among those that turn to UConn as a resource for talent and innovation, a partner in scientific and medical research and a generator of well-prepared recruits.

“As a public research university, the University is well positioned to assist Connecticut in stimulating economic development,” says Michael J. Hogan, UConn president.

“Our faculty, students and graduates make unique contributions to Connecticut, driving innovation, staying engaged in the community and enriching day-to-day lives of citizens throughout the state. The University’s presence has never been more significant.”