Procedure and Study Area
The goal of this study is to measure the short-run economic impact of Virginia Tech on the local community, which includes Montgomery County and the New River Valley and Roanoke Valley. The New River and Roanoke Valleys (NRRV) encompass Craig, Floyd, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski, and Roanoke counties, and the independent cities of Radford, Salem, and Roanoke.
The study compares the state of the local economy with and without the university. The main challenge is to identify and estimate the magnitude of the economic activities that are created by the presence of the university. The study considers three primary types of economic activities that occur because of the university's presence:
- Spending by the university and its affiliates
- Local spending by university associates including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, and staff members
- Local spending by non-local visitors to the university, such as football game attendees, conference attendees, and individuals visiting students