THE REGIONAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE PROPOSED CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT OF THE SOUTH WEST SEWER DISTRICT IN SUFFOLK COUNTY – A STUDENT ASSISTED PROJECT

摘要

Rt 110 Redevelopment Corporation is a non-profit community development organization. The corporation provided a community research grant to the Architecture and Construction Management department to study the economic impact of capital improvement of South West Sewer District in Suffolk County, New York. The department used the grant to include undergraduate students to expose them to community based construction research. The paper describes outcome of the project. The planned $25 million capital improvement yearly to the South West Sewer District in Suffolk County will create jobs during both the construction phase and once the project becomes operational. Direct expenditures associated with the project will be injected into the New York State economy and the Long Island economy in general and Suffolk County economy in specific and will undergo several rounds of re-spending so that their ultimate impact is a multiple of the original expenditure. This is the so called multiplier or ripple effect. Direct spending associated with such construction and infrastructure projects have unusually large multipliers because it caters to the needs of both the citizenry and will be utilized by a broad array of local businesses and industries, which include - retail establishments, manufacturing units, restaurants and hotels, service sector entities like educational institutions, research centers and service businesses like telecommunication, medical, legal, entertainment and technology firms. Therefore, any expansion of the Suffolk Sewage System on route 110 of the Suffolk County will have a disproportionately large positive impact on the regional economy. The paper will document the rational and process of economic impact analysis.