Economic Impacts of University of North Carolina Asheville Athletics Conducted by December 2017
Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Finding Highlights 4 Introduction 5 Impacts UNC Asheville Athletics Total 7 UNC Asheville Athletics Operations 9 Outside Visitors 10 Planned Capital Improvements 11 Definitions 12 Firm Description 13 Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 2
Executive Summary UNC Asheville s intercollegiate athletics has participated in NCAA Division I competition since 1986 and is a member of the Big South Conference. UNC Asheville offers 16 sports including baseball, basketball, cross country, indoor and outdoor track, soccer, and tennis for men and basketball, cross country, golf, indoor and outdoor track, soccer, swimming, tennis and volleyball for women. UNC Asheville Athletics is an exemplary NCAA Division I program that champions UNC Asheville s mission and strategic plan by creating an environment where student athletes have high impact learning experiences and engage internal and external constituents and communities. Bulldog student athletes participated in over 2,500 hours of community service. The graduation success rate and grade point average for student athletes were higher than the overall student body, a point of pride for the program and distinctive among NCAA Division 1 schools. Athletics strives for national recognition for developing Champions in Athletics and Leaders in Life by winning in the classroom, community and competition and to be one of the top men s mid major basketball programs in the country. In the fiscal year 2017, the women s basketball team won the Big South Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. Seventh seeded UNC Asheville became the first Big South Conference women s basketball team to win four games in four days and claim the Big South Conference Championship. UNC Asheville men s basketball had another banner year in the 2016 217 season picking up their sixth regular season title and an invitation to post season play for the sixth time. Head coach, Nick McDevitt, was recognized as the Big South Conference Coach of the Year. UNC Asheville Athletics is a significant driver in Asheville s economy; raising local economic output by $16.6 million. In the report that follows, the economic impacts of UNC Asheville Athletics for the fiscal year 2017 on the Asheville North Carolina metro area is explained. The study examines the annual impacts of: UNC Asheville Athletics Campus Operations ($14.3 million output) Outside Visitors ($2.3 million output) Planned Capital Improvements (averaging $2.9 million in output over the next five years) Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 3
Finding Highlights Activities of UNC Asheville Athletics supports 143 jobs in the Asheville economy, adds $5.9 million in local income and raises economic output in the local economy by $16.6 million. Activities of UNC Asheville Athletics result in $2.3 million of additional tax revenues annually: o $341 thousand in County & Local tax revenues o $556 thousand in State tax revenues o $1.4 million in Federal tax revenues An examination of UNC Asheville Athletics employment impacts by industry demonstrates its far reaching effects on the Asheville economy. For example, UNC Asheville Athletics supports 21 local jobs in Restaurants & Lodging, 16 local jobs in Retail Trade and local 15 jobs in Real Estate & Rental Services Visitors who traveled from outside the Asheville area to attend or participate in a UNC Asheville Athletics sports event spent an estimated $1.3 million in the local economy. Spending by outside visitors: o Supports 25 local jobs o Adds $739 thousand in local income o Raises local output by $2.3 million o Leads to $316 thousand in additional annual tax revenues Over the next five years the total impact of UNC Asheville Athletics planned capital improvements will on average annually: o Support 21 local jobs o Add $739 thousand in local income o Raise $1.1 million in local economic value o Increase local economic output by $2.9 million o Generate $244 thousand in tax revenues Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 4
Introduction Background & Purpose The University of North Carolina Asheville Athletics Department retained SYNEVA Economics LLC to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Department s impact upon the Asheville North Carolina regional economy. The purpose of the analysis was to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the UNC Asheville Athletics economic effects upon the region. The analysis is expected to objectively quantify local spending that occurs as a result of the presence of UNC Asheville Athletics activities; and track that spending as it moves through the local economy. Results of the analysis can demonstrate the economic contribution and value of UNC Asheville Athletics in terms of local supported jobs, increased income, Value added, raised economic output, and additional tax revenues generated. Limitations Economic impact analyses use spending as the primary factor to capture the effects of an economic activity. Spending presents a quantifiable variable from which an analyst can reliably model and track where and how dollars will flow in a particular situation. While spending is an important element, it fails to capture broader social and cultural impacts. This is a severe shortcoming in the context of measuring the impact of a University; an institution that at its core widely impacts the local social and cultural environment. Issues such as innovation or creativity, which are increasingly recognized as critical factors in economic development, are rooted within social or cultural forces and are thus largely untouched by an analysis based primarily on spending. As such, the reader should recognize that the results presented in this analysis likely capture only a small portion of the actual total impact that UNC Asheville Athletics has on the Asheville area. Methodology To measure economic impacts the IMPLAN system 1 was employed. IMPLAN is an input output model that is comprised of software and regional data sets. IMPLAN is an acronym for IMpact analysis for PLANning. The IMPLAN model was originally developed by the USDA Forest Service in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the USDI Bureau of Land Management to assist in resource management and planning. Currently the model is used by hundreds of public, private, and academic organizations. The overriding objective of the model is to measure the full economic impact to a local economy as the result of a specific economic activity. The model is built upon a matrix detailing the input output 1 IMPLAN Group, Inc., 16905 Northcross Drive, Suite 120 Huntersville, NC 28078 Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 5
relationships among industries and consumers. The primary matrix structure is derived from the National Bureau of Economic Analysis s Benchmark Input Output Model. The national model was realigned to match the regional Asheville economy. Output ratios and imports for over 536 industrial sectors in the area are assigned. Purchase coefficients are derived to measure the percentage of intermediate and final demands that are satisfied from local production and the percentage that are imported from outside the area. Consumer expenditure patterns, price deflators, industry employment levels, household income groups and the area population are also factored in for the local economy. The analysis measures the impacts occurring in the Asheville North Carolina metropolitan area. The Asheville metropolitan area is comprised of four counties (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison) located in the western part of North Carolina (Figure 1). The U.S. Census Bureau delineates a metropolitan area based on worker flows and the presence of a dense central urban core; terming the entire area a single economic entity. The City of Asheville in Buncombe County is the metropolitan area s urban core, and worker flows from and to the surrounding three counties demonstrate strong cross boundary economic linkages. UNC Asheville is located in central Buncombe County. In the report, references to the local economy, community or area all denote the Asheville North metropolitan area. Results are presented for a single one year period, based on information covering the University s fiscal year 2016 2017. Figure 1 Four County Asheville Metropolitan Area The economic impacts are measured as three local effects: direct, indirect, and induced. 2 Each of these effects is expressed in terms of their effect on jobs (local employment), income (local wages and proprietor income), value added (incremental value of production less intermediate outputs), output (total value of production), and tax revenues. 2 Direct effects are those initial changes occurring to a organization in expenditures or production as a result of a change in demand. Indirect effects occur to industries in the backward linked industries that supply the firm. Induced effects result from household spending generated by the additional income received in the local area. A more complete description can be found in Definitions section. Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 6
UNC Asheville Athletics Total Economic Impacts UNC Asheville s total economic impact is the sum of two major economic activities: UNC Asheville Athletics Operations Outside Visitor Spending In addition, the expected economic impacts of planned future Capital Improvements are analyzed separately. Major activities included local spending for operations for 16 sports (7 men s programs and 9 women s programs) and spending by outside visitors who attended UNC Asheville s athletic events that included baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming, track, tennis and volleyball competitions. Outside visitors also attended the Big South Conference cross country championships. UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics, total economic impact results in $16.6 million of economic output in the Asheville area (Table 1). Athletics supports 143 local jobs annually and raises labor income by $5.9 million. Local economic activities stimulated by UNC Asheville Athletics generate annual tax revenues of just over $2.3 million (Table 2). Table 1 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Total Annual Local Impacts Effect Employment Labor Income Value Added Output Direct 49 $2,865,401 $3,676,917 $5,834,520 Indirect 29 $753,784 $1,686,488 $3,358,897 Induced 65 $2,317,722 $4,077,729 $7,503,198 Total 143 $5,936,908 $9,441,135 $16,696,616 Table 2 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Total Annual Tax Revenues Generated County & Local $341,292 State $556,899 Federal $1,402,450 Total $2,300,641 Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 7
An examination of employment impacts by industry demonstrates the far reaching effects of UNC Asheville Athletics on the Asheville economy. For example, UNC Asheville Athletics supports 21 local jobs in Restaurants & Lodging, 16 local jobs in Retail Trade and local 15 jobs in Real Estate & Rental Services (Table 3). Table 3 UNC Asheville Athletics Total Employment Impacts By Industry Sector Industry Direct Indirect Induced Total Educational Services 35 1 2 38 Restaurants & Lodging 10 2 9 21 Retail trade 2 3 11 16 Real Estate & Rental Services 0 11 4 15 Health & Social Services 0 0 13 13 Other Misc. Services 0 2 7 9 Administrative Services 0 4 5 9 Arts Entertainment & Recreation 2 1 3 5 Professional, Scientific & Tech Services 0 1 3 4 Transportation & Warehousing 0 1 2 3 Finance & Insurance 0 0 3 3 Construction 0 1 1 2 Wholesale Trade 0 0 1 1 Information 0 0 1 1 Manufacturing 0 0 0 1 Total 49 29 65 143 Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 8
Major Activities: UNC Asheville Athletics Operations UNC Asheville Athletics operations includes local spending on products and services associated with conducting the operations of the athletics programs and the additional spending impacts of student athletes earning scholarships through the department. UNC Asheville Athletics operations support a total of 118 local jobs; 35 directly, 26 indirectly and 57 induced (Table 5). In terms of income activity, Athletics campus operations spending cause local labor income to increase by $5.1 million. Annually, economic value rises $8.1 million and total economic output increases by $14.3 million in the Asheville region as a result of spending on operations by UNC Asheville Athletics. As local purchases are made they generate additional tax revenues; increasing county, local, state and Federal revenues by $1.9 million annually (Table 5). Table 4 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Operations Annual Local Impacts Effect Employment Labor Income Value Added Output Direct 35 $2,505,930 $3,067,705 $4,757,052 Indirect 26 $662,415 $1,538,775 $3,048,829 Induced 57 $2,029,015 $3,569,739 $6,568,529 Total 118 $5,197,361 $8,176,219 $14,374,410 Table 5 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Operations Additional Tax Revenues Generated County & Local $288,245 State $475,008 Federal $1,220,594 Total $1,983,848 Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 9
UNC Asheville Athletics Outside Visitors UNC Asheville Athletics attracts outside visitors 3 to attend or participate in sporting events. As noted earlier, UNC Asheville s athletic events included baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming, track, tennis and volleyball competitions. Outside visitors also attended the Big South Conference crosscountry championships. Over the 2016 2017 fiscal year it is estimated that $1.3 million was spent locally by outside visitors participating in or attending UNC Asheville Athletics events. Spending patterns of outside visitors are derived from a model of sporting event spending utilized by the National Association of Sports Commissions. 4 Spending by outside visitors supports 25 local jobs, adds $739 thousand in local income and raises local output by $2.3 million (Table 6). Outside visitor spending leads to $316 thousand in additional tax revenues (Table 7). Table 6 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Outside Visitors Annual Local Impacts Effect Employment Labor Income Value Added Output Direct 14 $359,471 $609,212 $1,077,468 Indirect 3 $91,369 $147,713 $310,068 Induced 8 $288,707 $507,990 $934,670 Total 25 $739,547 $1,264,916 $2,322,206 Table 7 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Outside Visitors Additional Tax Revenues Generated County & Local $53,046 State $81,890 Federal $181,856 Total $316,792 3 Outside visitors only includes nonresidents from outside the four county Asheville metropolitan area, under the reasoning that economic activity by residents does not represent new spending to the area. 4 Based on studies completed by Sportsimpacts at over 50 sporting events spanning various market sizes and sporting event types, and a 2011 2012 Consumer Spending study conducted by the University of Arizona Sports Management program that analyzed daily visitor spending trends at 30 sporting events spanning various market sizes and event types. Source: National Association of Sports Commissions (NASC). Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 10
UNC Asheville Athletics Planned Capital Improvements Over the next five years, UNC Asheville expects to increase spending by approximately $1.5 million annually to complete the Outdoor Sports Complex and renovate the Justice Center. Spending in the Justice Center will include improvements to communications systems, locker room space for visiting teams and additional seating for spectators. The construction and completion of the Outdoor Sports Complex will support NCAA regular season play, Big South Conference Championships, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, youth football, and other local community sports tournaments and organizations. Specific plans include an indoor practice facility for baseball, golf and soccer, artificial turf, additional outdoor seating for soccer and baseball and other amenities. Activities of UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics planned capital improvements will support an annual average of 21 local jobs, add $739 thousand in local income, raise $1.1 million in local economic value, increase local economic output by $2.9 million and generate $244 thousand in tax revenues (Tables 8 9). Table 8 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Planned Future Improvements Annual Local Impacts Effect Employment Labor Income Value Added Output Direct 9 $315,066 $399,613 $1,500,000 Indirect 3 $136,071 $219,766 $471,703 Induced 8 $288,755 $508,633 $935,223 Total 21 $739,892 $1,128,011 $2,906,925 Table 9 UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics Planned Future Improvements Additional Tax Revenues Generated County & Local $30,041 State $55,149 Federal $159,465 Total $244,655 Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 11
Definitions Local Asheville Economy Time Period Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect IMPLAN Labor Income Value Added Output Tax Revenues The local Asheville economy represents the four county metropolitan statistical area (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison counties). All impacts occur within a one year period. Primary data for the economic activities were collected for Fiscal Year 2016 2017. The set of expenditures applied to the predictive model (i.e., I/O multipliers) for impact analysis. It is a series (or single) of production changes or expenditures made by producers/consumers as a result of an activity or policy. These initial changes are determined by the analyst to be a result of this activity or policy. The impact of local industries buying goods and services from other local industries. The cycle of spending works its way backward through the supply chain until all money leaks from the local economy, either through imports or by payments to value added. The response by an economy to an initial change (direct effect) that occurs through re spending of income received by a component of value added. This money is recirculated through the household spending patterns causing further local economic activity. The sum of direct, indirect, and induced effects. IMPLAN (IMpact analysis for PLANning) economic impact modeling system. IMPLAN is used to create complete detailed multi regional Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) and Multiplier Models of reginal economies. All forms of employment income, including Employee Compensation (wages and benefits) and Proprietor Income. Incremental value of production less intermediate outputs. The difference between an industry's or an establishment's total output and the cost of its intermediate inputs. Output represents the value of industry production. For manufacturers this is sales plus/minus change in inventory. For service sectors production = sales. For Retail and wholesale trade, output = gross margin and not gross sales. An estimate of the changes in income received by Federal, State, County and Local governments that stem from a specific economic impact or activity. Local agencies include cities, townships, villages, public school and fire districts Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 12
Firm Profile SYNEVA Economics, incorporated in the State of North Carolina since 2003 and based in Asheville, is an innovative leader in data driven regional economic analysis. As a regional economic research expert, SYNEVA Economics follows an adaptive business model, its role adjusting to the specific needs of each client and project. The firm at times works directly with municipal, community and economic development leadership and at other times serves as the research expert for firms such as Deloitte, Garner Economics, McCallum Sweeney Consulting, Magellan Strategy Group, Urban3, and Younger Associates. SYNEVA Economics broad portfolio includes economic assessments for dozens of communities, industry targeting, economic impact analyses, workforce & skills assessments, micro demographic analyses, and a host of custom analyses answering specific site and client needs. The range of research activities has been as diverse as economic impact analyses of universities, international airports and major infrastructure projects to micro demographics analyses of neighborhood gentrification and sub state health insurance coverage. Besides economic developers, municipalities, and workforce development boards, SYNEVA Economics clients have included commercial developers, community organizations, architectural and planning firms, a national insurance provider, and even the national offices of the Boy Scouts of America in site selection decisions. Innovative projects have included in depth evaluations of community and industry trends for the cities of Charlotte NC and Atlanta GA. Besides numerous community level assignments, comprehensive workforce assessments have been conducted for the St. Joe Company in Florida, and an exhaustive evaluation of precise workers skills for all workforce investment areas in the state of Mississippi. SYNEVA Economics projects have included the economic impacts of a permanent National Scouting Center for the Boys Scouts of America, Greenville Spartanburg International Airport, Asheville Regional Airport and the National Medal of Honor Museum in Charleston SC. For complete listing of projects and current activities visit www.syneva.com. Contact Information: Tom Tveidt, Research Economist tom@syneva.com 828.734.5021 SYNEVA Economics, LLC PO Box 885 Asheville NC 28802 www.syneva.com SYNEVA Economics, LLC has prepared this report for the sole use of the Client. This report may not be relied upon by any other party without express written agreement. SYNEVA Economics, LLC has exercised due and customary care in conducting this analysis, but has not independently verified information provided by others. No other warranty, express or implied is made in relation to the conduct of the Client or the contents of the analysis. SYNEVA Economics, LLC assumes no liability for any loss resulting from errors, omissions, or misrepresentations made by others. Any findings stated in this report are based on circumstances and facts as they existed at the time the work was performed. Any changes in circumstances and facts upon which this report is based may adversely affect the finding contained in this report. Economic Impacts of The UNC ASHEVILLE Athletics 2017 13