Fort Lewis College trustees got a look Friday at an upcoming study that says the school has a $151 million impact in the Four Corners.
The finding is based on spending related to FLC in fiscal 2012-13.
Among factors behind the impact are the spending of FLC employees and students; human capital, defined as the value of the degrees of an estimated 500 FLC graduates remaining in the community; college expenditures; visitor spending; and FLC capital projects.
Roger Zalneraitis, director of the La Plata County Economic Development Alliance, hasn’t read the report. He declined to analyze the findings.
“It may seem reasonable or ridiculous,” Zalneraitis said. “For now, just know that the GDP (gross domestic product) of La Plata County is $3 billion a year.”
The college’s reported impact represents 5 percent of the county GDP.
Included in the report, due out in a couple of weeks, are charts with tidbits about college revenue, institutional expenditures, salary and wages, fiscal impact by visitors, and student spending.
Among the items:
The largest sources of college revenue – a total of $66.8 million – are tuition and fees ($20.2 million); bookstore and cafeteria ($15.2 million); and state and local grants ($14 million).
The college spent $29.6 million on salaries and $10.2 million on benefits for faculty and staff members.
Visitors to various events spent $1.85 million, which, when applying a multiplier effect of 1.8, results in $3.3 million in spending.
Student spending of $29 million, with the 1.8 multiplier, resulted in $52.2 million.
Operational expenditures totaled $14.3 million; scholarships and fellowships, $1.4 million; and student wages, $1.38 million.
“The vibrancy of Fort Lewis College has increased the impact of the college economically, socially and culturally for Southwest Colorado and its residents,” the report says. “Estimates show that almost 4 percent of all jobs in La Plata County are generated by Fort Lewis College spending, when including direct and secondary jobs.”
It’s a conservative estimate, the report said, because it ignores values such as volunteerism and contributions to academic and cultural events.
The study was prepared by Angie Rochat, with the Office of Sponsored Research & Federal Relations; Mitch Davis, with the office of public affairs; Doug Lyon, with the School of Business Administration; Richard Miller, with the Office of Institutional Research and Planning; and Michele Peterson, with the FLC Budget Office.
daler@durangoherald.com
