Middletown, Ohio may serve as the home of one of Miami University's branch campuses, but it is Miami University Middletown that is giving back to the community.
A report recently released by the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) showed that in 2005-06, Miami Middletown contributed $36.2 million to the regional economy.
SOCHE, a consortium of 20 colleges and universities across southwestern Ohio, looked at various factors in determining economic impact, including enrollment numbers, revenues created from students moving into the area, money spent by the institution in yearly expenditures and daily operations, personnel and new construction.
Kelly Cowan, dean of Miami Middletown, pointed out this important link between campus and community.
"My personal and professional perspective is that it's absolutely vital," Cowan said. "We are a community based campus. The community brought us into existence."
According to the report, Miami Middletown spent nearly $20.8 million on daily operations in 2005-06, all of which were spent within Butler and Warren counties.
Money spent on staffing, maintenance and other utilities came to $14.9 million, and money spent by students and other visitors generated an additional $1.4 to $1.8 million for the region.
The report also said that Miami Middletown employs 358 people, resulting in a total direct and indirect creation of 459 jobs for the region. This number is the sum of all jobs created and maintained due to the university and its economic activity.
In total, there was a $16.3 million impact on household income for Butler and Warren counties, as well as $18.1 million brought in by outside sources.
Cowan said that this outside money in particular is absolutely vital to supporting Middletown's economy.
"I know Middletown would be much worse off without us," Cowan said, adding that Miami is the third largest employer in Middletown after AK Steel and Middletown Regional Hospital.
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Middletown's interim city manager, Steve Huseman, agrees.
"If the university goes away, then it's obviously going to put a large dent in our community," Huseman said.
Cowan said that having a quality university increases the appeal of the surrounding city for businesses and families, as well as tax dollars.
However, both Cowan and Huseman agree that the real impact Miami Middletown has on the surrounding community goes beyond the dollar signs.
"I think this is a quality of life issue, and I think that's what this campus brings to our residents," Husman said.
Cowan points to the large number of cultural events Miami has brought to the Middletown community, including political forums for local candidates, speakers and art exhibitions. Cowan also said that she and others at the university regularly meet with community leaders to see if there is anything that can be done to better integrate the campus and community.
"Miami University, as a whole, has really taken very seriously this idea that the three campuses of Miami should become relevant to their communities," Cowan said.
Cowan pointed out that although this is the first time a formal study has been conducted, these numbers were relatively on par with previous years in terms of economic impact. However, bringing jobs and other economic opportunities to Middletown has never been more important.
"It's an ongoing priority, but in the past few years we have put it front and center on our priority list," said Cowan, via e-mail.
According to Sean Creighton, executive director for SOCHE, the report was intended to illustrate just this-the importance of local colleges and universities.
"It's really raised awareness about how big the impact of higher education is on our community,"
Creighton said.
The report was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati, published by SOCHE and then distributed to various leaders in local and state government, as well as the schools within the consortium.
Creighton said the project came about after Governor Ted Strickland began to pay increased attention to higher education.
"On the governor and chancellor level, they're all talking about higher education as a priority to jumpstart the community," Creighton said.
Creighton said most knew colleges and universities had some regional impact, but not how much.
"(We wanted to look at) how do universities, the fact that they exist, impact the economy," Creighton said. "They create jobs, build new buildings ... all of these things contribute to the economy."
Cowan said that though the numbers for 2005-06 were high, she expects the impact in 2006-07 was even greater, especially since the completion of a new $5 million building last year.
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