The University helped create over 7,500 jobs and generate statewide output totaling $753 million through direct and indirect efforts in 2005, according to "Brown and Rhode Island: Growth and Opportunity," the University's first economic impact analysis since 2000.
The report was released a day after President Ruth Simmons delivered a keynote speech to the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce in which she addressed Brown's role in a resurgent local economy and highlighted the importance of collaborating with public and private institutions.
The report - conducted by Appleseed Inc., a New York consulting firm - portrays Brown as a key player in the economic growth of Rhode Island, particularly as the state looks to develop the human capital necessary to prosper in a knowledge-based economy. While the report lists direct and indirect benefits resulting from the University's growth as a research institution, it also attempts to place Brown's development in the context of the state's broader economic revitalization.
"Brown's growth coincides with a lot of progress that is happening in Providence and throughout Rhode Island," said Michael Chapman, vice president for public affairs and University relations. "The report demonstrates that this creates a lot of opportunities that will benefit people throughout the state."
The report emphasizes how Brown can further bolster the state's economic performance by expanding research facilities, fostering more research partnerships, making payments to city and state government and sponsoring community service projects.
Brown's contributions have aided a statewide economic revitalization, according to the report, which states that Rhode Island "fared much better than most U.S. states during the last recession." In the past five years, the state has seen its per capita income and its number of private sector jobs grow at rates exceeding the national average. According to the report, this demonstrates that the local economy has adapted successfully to national trends.
"Rhode Island's strong performance since 2000 is especially notable when viewed against the background of an economy that not long ago seemed mired in decline," the report states. After a "severe regional recession" struck in the late 1980s, the state experienced "a long, slow recovery" throughout much of the 1990s, though it "lagged well behind the U.S. in total job growth" during this period. "It was not until 2000 that private employment in Rhode Island returned to the level it had reached in 1989," according to the report.
The report's findings indicate that the state's resurgence occurred as "the University's impact on the Rhode Island economy ... increased in a number of measurable ways," said Hugh O'Neill, president of Appleseed.
He cited in particular an increased number of University employees, a greater level of investment in Providence and expansion of Brown's partnerships with nonprofits and research institutions. These include, among others, local hospitals, state government agencies and the Trinity Repertory Company.
The University solicited the study in part to illustrate how these partnerships promote economic growth and contribute to the state's cultural offerings, Chapman said.
Also, the fact that more Brown graduates now choose to remain in Providence after graduation allows the University to expand its impact on the local economy even further, O'Neill said. More than 5,500 alums live in Rhode Island, a number that has grown considerably since the mid 1990s. About 12 percent of the class of 2003 opted to remain in the Ocean State after graduation, according to the study.
A mix of old and new factors
Brown's heightened impact stems from a combination of recently emerging trends - such as capital investments - alongside others that have been present to some degree over an extended period, O'Neill said.
Though the University's interest in expansion is not completely new, the emphasis placed on related capital investment projects shows "a significant acceleration" that was not evident as recently as the late 1990s, O'Neill said.
According to the study, the University spent $52 million on construction projects that created 470 full-time-equivalent jobs in fiscal year 2005.
These projects have a "dual impact" on the local economy, O'Neill said. Not only do they induce more capital spending during the construction phase, but they also allow Brown to expand upon its potential educational and research contributions.
Capital investments such as the Doran-Speidel Building at 70 Ship St., which is located in the Jewelry District and houses laboratory facilities, allowed Brown to sustain high levels of research growth in recent years, O'Neill said.
Efforts to strengthen the Graduate School highlight another new element of the University's local economic impact, he said.
In addition to new initiatives, other steps to bolster Brown's role in the local economy - such as policies supporting research growth - have been in place for several years.
Since 2000, the University has increased research spending by 72 percent, totaling $144.6 million in fiscal year 2005, with "almost all" of this total coming from "federal agencies or other out of state sources," according to the report. Over the past five years, Brown's total research growth has exceeded the national average of other research universities, O'Neill said, adding that continued research gains show that "Brown has been kind of on a roll" in increasing the scale of such projects. These gains also enhance Brown's private sector presence - over the past five years, research conducted at Brown has spawned 22 start-up companies.
Brown's impact on Providence
Beyond merely highlighting the general interactions between a given university and its local economy, Appleseed's clients - which include Harvard and Columbia - want the impact reports to emphasize "aspects of the university's role that people might not be aware of," O'Neill said.
In Brown's case, it is important that growth efforts complement Providence's own economic revitalization, a process that "requires active cooperation with the city," O'Neill said.
"The potential is there for this to be an almost entirely positive thing for the city, but you can't take that for granted," he said. "My sense is that people at the University understand that. They want the process to be managed well."
Bethany Costello, spokeswoman for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, was enthusiastic about Brown's potential to facilitate job creation and serve as a broader engine for development. The University's enhanced role in the local economy prompted the Chamber to invite Simmons to speak at last week's annual dinner.
Brown's economic growth is "only a positive thing for us," Costello said.
