STUDY: SEMO BIG SPENDER; UNIVERSITY BOOSTS REGION'S ECONOMY, IT SAYS

Southeast Missouri State University and its employees and students help fuel the region's economy, spending $69.3 million annually, a study by Southeast economics professor Dr. Bruce Domazlicky says.

Domazlicky surveyed about 200 Southeast students this summer regarding their spending habits and applied those results to the whole student body.

He also used university payroll data for fiscal 1998 and national norms to calculate employee spending.

Domazlicky estimated Thursday that most of the money -- some $61 million annually -- is spent in Cape Girardeau County.

The economic impact estimated university spending as well as spending by 8,100 students and nearly 1,000 Southeast employees.

Domazlicky estimated Southeast students spend $34.5 million; faculty and staff, $23.8 million; and the university $11 million on goods and services.

The study estimated direct and indirect spending totals $121.4 million annually in the school's 25-county service region. About $107 million of that spending occurs in Cape Girardeau County, Domazlicky estimated. To calculate indirect spending, he multiplied the estimated direct spending by 1.75 to reflect the fact that money changes hands several times. A dollar spent by one person becomes income for a second person, who then spends that money on other goods and services, he said.

Domazlicky said he surveyed students about how much they spent on everything from groceries to health care.

He found that on average students each month spend $136 for groceries, $92 dining out, $58 on gasoline, $12 on laundry, $56 on entertainment, $14 on school supplies, $182 on rent, $21 on health care and $12.50 at barber and beauty shops.

Child-care costs averaged $26 a month, but Domazlicky said the low figure reflects the fact that many students don't have that expense.

Those that do have child-care expenses often pay much more than the average suggests, he said.

In calculating student spending, Domazlicky said he didn't include any expense for rent and groceries for the approximately 2,000 students who live in campus housing.

Domazlicky estimated that Southeast employees and students pay more than $1.2 million in real-estate and local sales taxes in the region.

The study calculated that university employees paid $467,000 in real-estate taxes and $280,000 in local sales taxes in the region. Students paid $455,000 in local sales taxes, he estimated.

Most of those taxes were paid in Cape Girardeau County, Domazlicky said.

All that spending creates jobs, particularly in the retail and service sectors, he said.

Domazlicky estimated the spending has helped create 1,850 jobs in Cape Girardeau County. "For every one university job, two jobs are created outside of the university," he said.

Domazlicky said the economic calculations are estimates, not hard figures. Still, he said the study accurately reflects the university's economic impact on the region.