First Appeared Thursday, 08 January '04

UCSF Contributes to Bay Area Economic Health, Study Finds

UCSF has a huge positive impact on the economic health of the Bay Area, generating more than 23,000 full-time jobs and $1.8 billion in sales and income in the region, according to a report prepared for UCSF by independent economic analysts.

UCSF’s current expansion in Mission Bay, furthermore, will create another 2,000 jobs and provide an additional spike in Bay Area economic activity, the analysts say. The report, prepared for the University by the Sedway Group, covers the 2000/2001 fiscal year, the most recent period for which there is full data.

The benefits of UCSF’s presence in the Bay Area will grow further in coming years, the report notes, as the University doubles its research space by building a new campus on 43 acres of the Mission Bay area south of Market Street. UCSF has projects totaling $820 million already under way at the new 43-acre campus at Mission Bay.

“The importance of this development cannot be overstated,” the authors say. “With San Francisco continuing to feel the effects of the technology downturn, the Mission Bay campus provides the opportunity to further diversify San Francisco’s economy.”

The analysts found that UCSF had wide-ranging positive impacts on the Bay Area, providing not only jobs and economic stimulus directly, but also indirectly through businesses that exist wholly or partly because of UCSF’s presence. For every job at UCSF, there were 0.65 jobs created in the region, according to the Sedway Group analysts.

The University continues to draw money and business to the Bay Area from the rest of the country, according to the analysts. They note that UCSF has one of the most active and lucrative research programs in the country, ranking number four in the nation in the amount of research money granted by the National Institutes of Health. University researchers also have contributed to the start-up of at least 60 life science and pharmaceutical companies, including Genentech and Chiron.

The analysts also looked at UCSF’s impact on the City and County of San Francisco alone, and report significant positive fiscal and social effects. For instance, although the city delivered about $3.8 million to UCSF in services and related expenditures, UCSF provided the city with about $5.5 million in revenues, resulting in a net positive flow of $1.7 million to city coffers. The University is also the largest employer in San Francisco after the city itself. Of UCSF’s 21,000 full- and part-time jobs, 53 percent are filled by San Francisco residents.

Jobs at UCSF span a broad economic spectrum. In fact, there were nearly as many lower-wage jobs as there were high-paying jobs, the analysts found. UCSF’s average wage is more than 8 percent higher than the average wage for other businesses in San Francisco.

The workforce at UCSF is ethnically diverse, the report states. Minorities comprise 52 percent of the University’s labor force, slightly greater than the 50 percent of the San Francisco population that belong to minority groups. Additionally, women comprised 69 percent of the UCSF’s labor force.

UCSF’s presence in the Bay Area also provides many social benefits in health care and education, the analysts say. In addition to providing premier educational opportunities, the University held community health lectures attended by 5,000 people. More than 300 local primary school teachers attended science education workshops through UCSF’s Science Education Partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District. The University also played a prominent role in establishing the Child Abuse Council, an independent community watchdog agency that serves as an advocate on issues of child abuse and neglect.

UCSF continues to provide access to the highest quality of medical and dental care to people in the region, and more than 600,000 patient visits were recorded in its two medical centers during the survey year. Additionally, many of the UCSF’s staff and students provide voluntary care for members of the area’s underserved and minority communities, the report says.

Some highlights of 2000/01 include:

• $951.3 million in wages were paid to UCSF’s direct and indirect employees and retirees.

• UCSF spent $134 million on goods and services, 31 percent of which were purchased from vendors in San Francisco and 69 percent of which were purchased from vendors elsewhere in the Bay Area.

• UCSF has the largest patent and invention portfolios of any campus in the UC system, and licensing revenue generated by UCSF — about $38.5 million -- accounts for 46 percent of licensing revenues generated by the entire UC system.

• UCSF employees were 31 percent Asian, 11 percent black or African American, and 11 percent Hispanic, compared to a San Francisco population of 31 percent Asian, 8 percent black or African American, and 14 percent Hispanic.

• UCSF provides thousands of people with free medical and dental care through a number of city clinics.

Source: Christopher Vaughan