Hopkins Puts $3.3 Billion Into State Economy


By Dennis O'Shea

     Take your average Dundalk foundry, Towson supermarket or
downtown investment bank.

     Walk through the shop, across the sales floor or into the
back office. Count up the first 37 employees you meet.

     Now imagine Maryland without Johns Hopkins University. And
imagine one of those 37 workers on unemployment.

     A new study concludes that Hopkins--directly or indirectly--
injected $3.3 billion into the Maryland economy in fiscal year
1994.

     That's one of every three dozen dollars spent in the state
during those 12 months, the independent consultant who performed
the study said.

     The study also said that the university, directly or
indirectly, supports one of every 37 jobs in the state. That's
three Hopkins-generated jobs in Westminster, Arbutus or elsewhere
in Maryland for every two paychecks issued on campus.

     With 21,500 Marylanders on its own payroll, the university
is one of the top five private employers in the state. But the
university's spending--and that of its employees, retirees and
affiliated institutions like the Space Telescope Science
Institute--supports another 33,400 in-state jobs.

     "I've always known that what the people of Johns Hopkins
achieve--in teaching, in scholarship, in community service--makes
a real difference in society," said William C. Richardson,
president of the university.

     "But this report confirms something else I've long believed:
that the university also makes a very substantial
bread-and-butter contribution to its home state, in terms of
jobs, in terms of spending. We're proud of that."

     The university has commissioned an economic impact study
every few years since 1986; it chose to do another update now
because the university has grown so much in recent years and
because there has been dramatic turnover among state political
leaders, legislators in Annapolis and Washington, and their
staffs.

     "Most Marylanders know about the quality of our students,
the quality of our faculty, the quality of our research," said
Eugene S. Sunshine, senior vice president for administration, who
initiated the project.

     "What isn't understood as often is that Hopkins'
contributions are not just in those terms," Sunshine said. "But
we find that, when we take the time to do a study like this and
explain the results to interested parties, they really appreciate
the information."

     It's important that the public and policymakers have a
thorough understanding of Hopkins' role in the economy, Sunshine
said. 

     "The state, for example, invests in the university with
unrestricted dollars for student aid and other purposes," he
said. "It invests in us with capital money for projects like the
new Public Health addition and renovations in Krieger and
Maryland halls. And it invests in us with endowment money, buying
an art collection from us to build the Peabody Institute's
underfunded endowment.

     "It's critical for us to demonstrate that we're providing a
significant return on those investments."

     A summary of the economic impact study is available. Send
your request by e-mail to Michele Naumann at man@resource.ca.jhu.
edu, or by campus mail to the Office of News and Information at
212 Whitehead Hall, Homewood campus.