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ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE
SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE TECHNOLOGY PARK,
SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS:
AN ANALYSIS OF EXPENDITURES,
JOBS, AND FISCAL IMPACT
The Springfield Technical Community
College Assistance Corporation (STCCAC) converted the former Digital Equipment
Corporation site into a new Technology Park that encompasses 860 employees, housing 18 tenant companies
employing more than 750 workers, and an incubator facility with an additional
21 small businesses with approximately 110 employees. The Park received the
Economic Development Administration
US Department of Commerce’s 2001 Excellence
in Urban or Suburban Economic Development Award, as well as the International
Economic Development Council’s 2002 Excellence in Economic Development Award.
Even with the relatively slow economy, this Technology Park has been a steady employer and offers the city of Springfield valuable benefits. This report highlights the economic and
fiscal impact of the STCC Technology Park on the region, the city and the college. The assessments in
this report are both quantitative and qualitative in nature.
On Employment Impact
- Tenant companies in
the STCC Technology Park create a total of approximately 860 direct jobs.
- An additional 1,223
jobs are created in the regional economy due to the multiplier effect.
- A total of 2,083
jobs can be attributed either directly or indirectly
to the Park.
- For every one job in
the Park, an additional 1.42 jobs in the regional economy will be affected.
On Investment and Purchase Impact
On Fiscal Impact
- The Technology Park generates $218,000 in property tax revenue annually for the
City.
- The City spends
approximately $44,500 annually to provide municipal services to the Park.
- The City nets
approximately $173,500 in annual tax revenues from the Park.
On the STCC/Technology Park Partnership
- The Partnership has
made it possible for hundreds of STCC students to gain practical work
experience at technology based companies in the Park.
- The Park provides an
ideal educational setting for three STCC academic programs; the National Center for
Telecommunications Technologies, the Department of Mechanical Engineering
Technology, and the Verizon New England Next Step
Program.
- STCC faculty and
staff provide tenant companies with both business expertise and up-to-date
technical assistance.
The STCC Technology Park is a place where calculated
risk is welcomed, where there is a low cost of entry, where innovation is an
asset and where academic assistance is literally next door. It is also a place that welcomes,
educates and trains the city’s next workforce in new technologies, and that is
very much a part of an exciting, changing neighborhood. In short, there is no place quite like it in
the City: It is here that one can see the legacy of Springfield’s
economic past evolving into Springfield’s
future.
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