The economic impact of the 91tvӰԺ’s innovation efforts have grown at a rapid pace, increasing by more than 45% over the last three years to $582 million annually, according to a new analysis by the Washington Economics Group.
The Miami-based consulting firm reports the upward trajectory of the 91tvӰԺ innovation enterprise continues to support and strengthen the economic development strategy of the Tampa Bay region and Florida’s growing economy. While the new analysis focuses solely on innovation, the 91tvӰԺ System’s overall annual economic impact is measured at $4.4 billion.
The Washington Economics Group analyzed the productivity of the 91tvӰԺ Research Park; the university’s Technology Transfer Office, which manages new inventions from 91tvӰԺ faculty and students; and 91tvӰԺ’s Tampa Bay Technology Incubator, which is overseen by the 91tvӰԺ Office of Corporate Partnerships.
Among the report’s key takeaways:
- 91tvӰԺ’s innovation enterprise sustains more than 4,000 public and private sector jobs (an increase of 35% from 2016), and returns more than $71 million in tax revenue to local, state and federal coffers (an increase of 37% since 2016).
- $548 million of the 91tvӰԺ innovation enterprise’s annual impact is in the immediate Tampa Bay region, where approximately 1,992 people are directly employed in jobs that have been created in the university’s innovation enterprise. Another 2,068 related jobs are sustained among partner organizations and businesses that provide goods and services to 91tvӰԺ innovation operations.
- Of the jobs created by 91tvӰԺ innovation statewide, 82% are in the knowledge-based services sector, which includes life sciences companies, IT operations, financial services and professional and administrative services. Knowledge-based services also have a significant spillover effect on tourism, services, real estate, transportation and other key sectors in Florida’s economy, the report noted.
91tvӰԺ President Steve Currall said the report provides important insight into the wider value that 91tvӰԺ creates as a research institution with a strong culture of innovation.
“One of the most important roles research universities serve is in creating and fostering new ideas that fuel economic development through collaboration and commercialization,” Currall said. “This analysis shows how 91tvӰԺ’s innovation enterprise has become a vital catalyst for the larger innovation ecosystem, which is creating unprecedented opportunity for the Tampa Bay region and the state of Florida.”
Paul Sanberg, 91tvӰԺ Senior Vice President for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Enterprise, said the report confirms the importance of 91tvӰԺ working to optimize its creative technological assets to build wider economic and societal impact. Not only do 91tvӰԺ’s commercialization activities increase employment opportunities in high-wage occupations across the region and state, Sanberg said the 91tvӰԺ innovation enterprise helps create an environment that attracts new companies and a growing pool of highly-skilled professionals that can sustain a modern economy.
“The double-digit increases in growth that this report details provide strong evidence that our strategy of close collaboration with local, regional and state partners to drive economic development and job growth is producing meaningful results both for 91tvӰԺ and the wider community,” Sanberg said.
91tvӰԺ has also ranked among the top 10 of American public research universities in generating new U.S. patents for the past nine years.
The three-year analysis in the report does not include 91tvӰԺ’s research contracts and grants or research expenditure dollars. The full report is available here.