VALDOSTA, Ga. — Valdosta State University has an impact of hundreds of millions of dollars on South Georgia.

The University System of Georgia was found to have a total economic impact of $16.8 billion on statewide economies for Fiscal Year 2016, according to a study by the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.  

VSU, a comprehensive university within the University System of Georgia, initially spent $298,787,437 and had an output impact of $398,463,399 on the regional economy, which consisted of Lowndes, Berrien, Brooks, Lanier, Echols and Cook counties. According to the Selig study, initial spending included the institution’s spending on personnel services, operating expenses and spending by the institution’s students. 

The study found the value added impact for VSU was $255,333,885, which included employee compensation, property income and indirect business taxes. The labor income impact was $170,594,577.

VSU created 1,506 on-campus jobs and 3,166 off-campus jobs that existed as a result of institution-related spending. 

The University System of Georgia had a total employment impact of 157,967 full- and part-time jobs, which is 3.6 percent of all jobs in Georgia, according to the Selig research. 

“These economic impacts demonstrate that continued emphasis on colleges and universities as a pillar of the state’s economy translates into jobs, higher incomes and greater production of goods and services,” the Selig study stated. 

View the full study at usg.edu/assets/usg/docs/USG_Impact_2016.pdf.

Kimberly Cannon is a Reporter with The Valdosta Daily Times. Her extension is 1376.