BECKLEY, W.VA. (WOAY) – A new economic impact study showed more than 14.3 billion dollars flowing into West Virginia through hospitals, higher education, and athletics connected to the West Virginia University system.
According to the study, the WVU system, which included campuses in Morgantown, Keyser, and Beckley, generated nearly 94.4 million dollars in economic impact in the Beckley area alone.
That impact included more than 840 jobs and 6.1 million dollars in local and state tax contributions.
T. Ramon Stuart, President of WVU Tech, said the numbers demonstrated how closely the university’s success was tied to the surrounding community.
“Here in Beckley at WVU Tech, it was recognized that we had a 94.4-million-dollar economic impact on this area,” Stuart said. “When we are successful, our community is successful. The more students we bring in, retain, and then graduate, the more we are able to give back to the citizens of West Virginia who invested in us.”
WVU Tech was best known for its engineering program, which was ranked among the top 100 in the nation. The school hosts around 20 programs. However, Stuart said the university’s reach extended far beyond engineering.
“We liked to say we were more than engineering,” he said. “We engineered successful nurses, doctors, lawyers, and leaders. We engineered success, and that was something we had been doing for 130 years,” said Stuart.
Stuart said the economic impact study reflected a larger vision for the entire WVU system and the state.
“It gave us the opportunity to respect where we were while envisioning where we could be,” he said. “If we continued to work together, I could assure you that the WVU system, from Keyser to Morgantown to Beckley, along with the WVU hospital network and athletics, will help build this state into what not only we wanted it to be, but what residents wanted to see.”
The study also highlighted the role of the health system across the state. According to WVU Medicine President and CEO, Albert Wright, the health system had invested 3 billion dollars over the past decade and planned to invest an additional 3 billion dollars over the next ten years.
