Higher education is a major player in South Bend economy

Knowledge is power.

And in South Bend, the knowledge industry translates into economic power – a lot of it.

Specifically, the eight institutions of higher education in and around South Bend have been making a huge economic impact, which manifests itself in a variety of ways.

All totaled, these South Bend’s post-secondary educational institutions have more than 7,045 faculty and other employees serving nearly 30,000 students, which constitute a significant economic force locally.

The local economic impact of these schools individually is remarkable as well.

For its part, the University of Notre Dame alone pumps $873 million annually into St. Joseph County, according to an economic impact study done by the university in 2007.

And then there’s the cumulative effect of building and development. The various construction projects dotting South Bend’s cityscape – some of which involve close collaboration with the City – are pumping millions of dollars into the local economy.

South Bend’s institutions of higher learning also attract a range of public and private research funding, which also fuels economic growth.

And, of course, South Bend’s institutions of higher education generate well-educated workers for the local labor force, contributing to the productivity of local businesses.

Each of these institutions builds the local economy in unique ways, too. Following are brief snapshots of the different ways South Bend’s post-secondary educational institutions boost the area’s economy.

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame – directly and indirectly – is responsible for supporting 12,380 jobs.

“Notre Dame has more than 5,000 full- and part-time workers who earn more than $280 million a year, making the university the largest employer in the county,” says Timothy Sexton, associate vice president for public affairs at the university.

And as previously mentioned, Notre Dame’s annual economic impact in the county is $873 million.

Since 2008, Notre Dame has spent more than $290 million on building projects, such as the new Stinson-Remick Hall of Engineering. It is poised to spend another $53 million on a new hockey arena that will feature two ice rinks.

Ongoing projects include Innovation Park at Notre Dame, which transforms innovations into viable marketplace ventures, and Eddy Street Commons at Notre Dame, a mixed-use commercial development. They are located next to each other on the south side of the campus. When complete, they will have cost more than $260 million.

Then there is the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Organization (NNRO), made up of area residents, the University of Notre Dame, City of South Bend, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, Memorial Hospital, Madison Center and South Bend Clinic. South Bend Heritage Foundation provides staffing for the NNRO.

All are funding projects in the area, including renovated homes on Notre Dame Avenue in what is basically a new neighborhood in a triangle of formerly substandard housing at the corner of Eddy Street and State Route 23. It will include 60 low-to-moderate income and market-rate homes, some selling for as little as $100,000 each.

On the research end, the university scored a major coup in 2008 when it landed the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND). The $11 million effort, which runs through 2011, resulted in the hiring of nine faculty and staff members at Notre Dame and will likely be funded again in 2012. The City of South Bend has committed $1 million as part of Indiana’s match toward MIND and another $50 million toward the commercialization of technologies emanating from MIND. MIND’s work on finding the next generation of transistors may one day result in new and related businesses springing up in South Bend.

Lastly, MIND is partnering with Ivy Tech Community College to create a technician training curriculum for the nanotechnology industry.

Indiana University South Bend

Indiana University South Bend (IU South Bend) has a $66 million economic impact on the region every year, according to Ken Baierl, director of communications. The campus has 1,306 employees, including 298 full-time faculty, 288 part-time faculty, 408 full-time staff and 400 part-time staff. A total of 8,395 students attend Indiana University South Bend.

In 2008, the campus added the $17 million River Crossing student housing complex. Construction workers are currently completing a $1.5 million renovation on the second floor of the Administration Building. And architects are finishing plans for the $26 million renovation of the Education and Arts Building. Construction is expected to begin in the fall.

IU South Bend is working with the City of South Bend and the South Bend Heritage Foundation on a $1.5 million effort to renovate the Engman Natatorium on West Washington Street as the location for the Civil Rights Heritage Center.

Baierl says IU South Bend also has a variety of internships that help with economic development in the area. They include the School of Business and Economics, which has class projects that work with local small businesses to enhance their business plans.

In addition, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research provides business consultation and economic expertise to the business community. It also maintains a database of local economic indicators, conducts research on local and regional issues, and serves as a source of information on regional economic activity.

Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend

At the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, the new Harper Cancer Institute is a $20 million joint effort with Notre Dame. Researchers will focus their efforts on cancer biology and expanded medical school activities. The funding was split evenly between donor Mike Harper (in a gift to the University of Notre Dame) and the state of Indiana. The building should be finished later this year.

“The great thing in terms of economic development for South Bend is that Notre Dame and the medical school will be bringing in faculty from around the country to fill the building,” says Rudolph Navari, M.D., Ph.D., assistant dean and director of the IU School of Medicine-South Bend.

“They will buy homes here and then hire staff and technicians, who probably will be mostly local people,” he says. “Moreover, the researchers will be getting federal grants of up to $500,000 a year and that means buying lab equipment and supplies.”

He says each of the 10-12 faculty members will probably hire four to five staff members.

“The absolute number of hires may not be that great, but the dollars they will bring in are,” he explains. “All totaled, each faculty member could generate several million dollars in economic development.

“Moreover, we expect that the institute will also attract other physicians who will work at the institute and practice medicine in the area. So this will be a boon to the local medical community.”

Ivy Tech Community College-North Central

Ivy Tech Community College-North Central has significant impact on South Bend’s economy in a variety of ways.

With more than 190 full- and part-time employees, and 183 adjunct faculty members, it has an annual payroll of around $20 million and an annual operating budget of more than $23 million.

The downtown school is expected to grow by an average of at least 5 percent over the next decade, says Chancellor Virginia Calvin. That means it will have an enrollment of more than 10,000 students in 2020, she says.

To meet that expansion, she says Ivy Tech is working closely with the City on plans to construct four new buildings as the college grows north to Sample Street.

And over the 15 years following 2020, the college’s 25-year master plan calls for another five buildings. All together, the nine new educational structures will cost an estimated $270 million.

“If we are going to meet the needs of the community and build our workforce for places like Ignition Park, we need to grow,” says Calvin. “But it’s not just nanotechnology. When agricultural, health care, biotech and other kinds of businesses need technicians and workers, we’ll supply them, too, because that’s what we do.”

(For more details on Ivy Tech’s expansion, see “Ivy Tech growing by leaps and bounds.”)

Purdue University College of Technology at South Bend

The Purdue College of Technology is located on the IU South Bend campus.  Mike Sanders, director of Purdue University College of Technology at South Bend, says his school contributes to the local economy in a variety of ways.

“Classes often work with local industries, learn what their problems are, attempt to solve problems and make presentations to company officials,” he says.

In addition, seniors are required to work one-on-one with businesses as part of the Capstone graduation requirement. Industries also often ask for faculty and student teams to do applied research projects on specific technical problems.

“One student, for example, is now writing software to better control an electric motor used by a South Bend company,” he notes.

Holy Cross College

With 500 students and 100 employees, Holy Cross College is relatively small compared to other post-secondary educational institutions in the area. Yet it has had a significant impact on the local economy as well, having dedicated the $8 million Pfeil Center, a student and faculty activities center, in 2009. Construction was done entirely by local contractors.

In the years ahead, a European-style town square will be built in the area between the college and the Holy Cross Village, a continuing care retirement community.

Holy Cross students contribute to the local economy through professional internships, which are required in order to graduate from the college.

Saint Mary’s College

At Saint Mary’s College, which is adjacent to Holy Cross College and Notre Dame, the all-women school offers five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 areas of study.

Gwen O’Brien, director of media relations, says the school’s new Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI) received a federal grant of $245,000 last year to support women’s entrepreneurship in the South Bend community.

As part of WEI's efforts, senior business students currently enrolled in the Small Business Consulting course are serving a handful of South Bend-area women-owned businesses as small business consultants.

Brown Mackie College-South Bend

At Brown Mackie College-South Bend, enrollment is now at 1,300 students, up from 780 a year ago. Students moved into a new 45,000-square-foot building on Douglas Road last year. Because of booming growth, the college will soon expand into the old Davenport College on Cleveland Road.

From Notre Dame to Brown Mackie, all of these institutions are contributing to the South Bend community and its economic development. With the City poised for growth, they will be supplying the technicians, doctors, engineers, teachers and other workers needed for a changing economy.