About one in seven Utah County residents is associated with Brigham Young University in one way or another.
And that pervasiveness means the LDS Church-owned university has a huge financial impact on Provo/Orem and surrounding cities. A recent study shows the university put an estimated $326 million into the local economy the past year, said BYU President Merrill J. Bateman, adding the figure errs on the conservative side."This is the total amount of money that would be pulled out of the economy if BYU were not present," Bateman told business leaders Thursday at the Provo Office of Economic Development's fall round table.
Coupled with Utah Valley State College, a state-run school in Orem, higher education pumps nearly $440 million into the county's economy each year.
Bateman figures about 50,400 of the county's 324,000 estimated residents have ties to the university. BYU, the nation's largest private university, has 32,000 students.
Direct faculty, staff, student and university expenditures in the valley total $200 million, a $23 million increase over two years ago, he said.
People affiliated with BYU spend only 8 to 10 percent of their income outside the county. Bateman said he expects the percentage to drop with the opening of Provo Towne Centre, one of the state's largest indoor shopping malls.
A 1989 survey showed research conducted at BYU resulted in the creation of 127 businesses. Bateman said he believes the number now is more than 200.
BYU employs some 13,400 people, a majority of whom are students working their way through college. While BYU's share of the valley's total workforce has diminished the past decade, its portion of salaries paid is on the rise.
"We're one of the huge wage payers in the county. Our wages have gone up faster than the county's," Bateman said.
A finance or accounting professor fresh out of graduate school, for example, is paid about $100,000 annually. Pressure to compete with other universities and the private sector forces BYU to pay large salaries to attract top faculty, the president said.
The campus bookstore and other sales outlets make BYU Provo's second largest retailer, contributing $23 million in sales tax to local coffers annually. It pays the city $7 million a year for municipal services.
Sam's Club is the largest retailer in terms of sales tax in the city.
Bateman said some people mistakenly consider BYU simply a user of services, but "we in fact more than pay our way in the community."
University-related attractions such as football games, museums, concerts and the Missionary Training Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which BYU maintains, bring some 500,000 people a year from outside the valley to Provo.
Twenty-two percent of all hotel/motel stays are attributable to BYU, which hosts numerous conferences, workshops and the popular Education Week each summer. The typical campus visitor spends $443 during a three-day stay, Bateman said.
In addition, BYU draws dignitaries, politicians and scholars from all over the world, helping put the school on the international map. "We are a magnet for inviting important people to the community," said Bateman who received the Mayor's Award for Excellence Thursday from Provo Mayor Lewis Billings.
Bateman said Utah Valley's emphasis on families and moral standards fits with BYU's mission, which blends religion and scholarship.
"I'm not sure we could be any other place and accomplish what we want to accomplish," he said.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Top 10 Provo Retailers
(by 1998 year-to-date sales tax)
1. Sam's Club
2. Brigham Young University
3. Food-4-Less
4. Smith's Food and Drug
5. Christensen Chevrolet
6. Misc. motor vehicle sales
7. Sears
8. Albertson's (Center Street)
9. Albertson's (University Parkway)
10. ShopKo
Top 10 Provo employers
(number of employees)
1. Brigham Young University (13,400)
2. Intermountain Health Care (3,130)
3. Novell Inc. (2,500)
4. Provo School District (1,610)
5. Nu Skin Enterpriese (1,200)
6. Stream International (996)
7. Sears Teleservice (900)
8. Ameritech Library Services (774)
9. Utah State Hospital (720)
10. Utah County (650)
SOURCE: Provo Office of Economic Development