Columbia and the Community

The Economic Engine

By any measure, Columbia makes an enormous contribution to the well-being of our local neighborhoods, and to New York City as a whole.

There is of course no way to quantify the talent, intellect, and enthusiasm of Columbia's accomplished participants in the life of New York City. Last year, in addition to educating 5,055 city residents—some 21 percent of the student population—Columbia brought to New York even more of the world's brightest people, as students, faculty, and researchers. Many of them will become confirmed New Yorkers and long-term contributors to the city's economy. For example, the twelve corporations that hired the largest numbers of Business School graduates are all headquartered in New York.

Where measurements are available is in the University's direct impact on the city in terms of dollars and cents. Spending by the University grew from $1.34 billion in 1995 to $1.75 billion in fiscal 2000. A comprehensive economic analysis finds that the percentage of spending that occurred within New York City increased during that period from 68 percent to 72 percent.

An employee with a minority-owned firm located in the Bronx that is working on a major renovation project in Philosophy Hall.

Our financial condition remains robust. The market value of the endowment as of June 30, 2000, stood at $4.264 billion, nearly double what it was five years ago. Under the watchful eye of John Masten, the executive vice president for finance who came to Columbia from another great institution, the New York Public Library, the University has now had six consecutive balanced budgets.

At the same time, Columbia has continued to achieve significant fund-raising success. Last year marked our seventh straight record-setting year in terms of cash receipts, with the total of $292.2 million putting us within reach of our goal of $300 million in cash gifts per year. The Campaign for Columbia went from strength to strength under the guidance of Richard K. Naum, vice president for University development and alumni relations, and Anne M. McSweeney, the deputy vice president and special adviser to the president for development.

This financial strength carries with it a high responsibility. In the past much of Columbia's economic impact evolved as a by-product of the University's size and essential activities. Now we are making it our explicit policy to increase the positive effects of employment, construction spending, and purchasing for the benefit of New York.

Columbia is one of the city's largest employers, with a workforce of 12,850 individuals (up by 1,320 people since 1995) possessing a wide range of skills.

• More than 3,600 of the University's positions are held by faculty, but even more are held by employees in support services such as security, maintenance, and dining services.
• Nearly 70 percent of all Columbia employees live in the city.
• Thirty-six percent of the jobs at Columbia are held by 4,590 residents of Upper Manhattan.
• Pay to regular employees totaled $706.4 million and to students $14.8 million.
• Last year the University hired 4,500 temporary employees for up to three

Festive Palate catering was one among more than 20 businesses from Harlem, Washington Heights, Morningside Heights, and the South Bronx that attended the Taste of New York event held in Low Library Rotunda.

Together with other members of the Morningside Area Alliance, Columbia participates in a new program called "Job Connections" that matches area institutions with local residents looking for work, with additional support being provided by social service agencies and community development organizations. The program assists residents in finding jobs at Columbia as clerks, secretaries, food service specialists, maintenance workers, and custodians.

The major construction activity on campus in recent years has offered an exceptional opportunity to contribute to New York's economy. Last year, building and refurbishing projects included the continuing renovation of Butler Library, construction of the new Broadway undergraduate residence hall, the renovation of the Law School's Jerome L. Greene Hall, and construction of the Robert K. Kraft Family Center for Jewish Student Life. Total University payments to construction contractors reached $136.5 million for the year, up from $99.8 million in 1995, with 71 percent paid to firms in the city.

These capital projects support the growth of our research enterprise and enhance our ability to attract outstanding students and faculty from outside New York—and also create business opportunities for local contractors and high-wage employment for workers.

Four years ago Columbia became one of the first institutions of higher learning to adopt voluntarily a policy of minority hiring on construction projects; the policy is based on a New York City model developed by Kenneth Knuckles, vice president for support services, during his tenure as the city's commissioner of general services.

Our goals for minority hiring include 15 percent minority-owned subcontractors, 5 percent women-owned, and 5 percent locally-owned. As shown in the accompanying chart, we have surpassed our goals in every category for recent major projects. For small-to-medium projects routinely performed on campus (amounting to $7–$8 million annually), some 68 percent of the contractors are minority, women, or locally-owned firms. Overall, the University has paid $25 million to women, minority, and local contractors over the past two years.

To increase broad participation in its construction labor force, Columbia now requires all its general contractors to hire minority, women, and local workers, and to provide walk-in opportunities for potential workers at each site. Our goals in this area call for 20 percent minority composition, 5 percent women, and 5 percent local residents. Again, we have made considerable progress: in the Butler Library renovation, for example, 36 percent of workers are minority, 8 percent women, and 11 percent local.

We are working to keep this momentum going as we enter the third year of the University's current five-year, $800 million capital plan, which includes construction of the third of five buildings planned for Audubon, continuation of the Butler Library renovation, the creation of a new home for the School of Social Work, the renovation of Hamilton Hall, and planning for a combined hotel-convention center with a movie theatre and parking garage to serve the needs of patients' families at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.

The purchase of goods and services marks the third area in which the University is working to leverage its economic force for the benefit of New York City firms. Last year, such purchases totaled $328 million, up $93 million from 1995, including $40 million paid to Upper Manhattan vendors and contractors.

To increase those amounts even more, the University is working in partnership with the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and the Boston Consulting Group by identifying prospective vendors. In addition, we have retained the services of the Urban Affairs Group, a specialist in the development of minority businesses, to help firms in Harlem, Morningside Heights, and Washington Heights in becoming Columbia vendors. Mark Burstein, vice president for facilities management, is forging links with local businesses a key goal in searching for a company to handle the University's inventory supplies operation.

More than 51 vendors that provide Columbia with goods and services, most in New York City, attended a purchasing fair in Roone Arledge Auditorium.

For those vendors already identified, Vice President Knuckles has highlighted 120 businesses in northern Manhattan, all new to the Columbia purchasing system, on a searchable on-line local vendor directory readily accessible to University employees. A complementary development is the new Columbia Procurement Card for employees making local purchases. Vendors who accept the "Pro Card" benefit from a quick turnaround—payment by the University within 72 hours.

Columbia's investments in research and business development play a special role in strengthening New York's position at the center of the global, high-tech economy. Research spending last year topped $312 million, up 12 percent from fiscal year 1999. Our expanding facilities for scientific research and training—including the continued development of the Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park—constitute an important part of New York's total research infrastructure.

Our vibrant research enterprise, which now includes more than 3,000 University employees, helps to attract the talented people on whom the continued growth of the city's economy depends. Academic research can act as a seedbed for the development of new products and new businesses—as indicated by Columbia's own portfolio of thirty-three start-up companies that grew directly from University research, up from eight just five years ago. Columbia is a national leader in licensing the results of its research for commercial use. Last year's income from license agreements totaled $143.6 million.

In its first three months, Columbia's new Power Lunch/Everybody Wins Porgram has linked more than 130 Columbia staff, faculty, and students with elementary students at nearby P.S. 125.

In another important example of institutional commitment, the University helped to promote the revitalization of Washington Heights and west and central Harlem through the creation of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (EZ). Spearheaded by Representative Charles Rangel with support from community leaders, the successful EZ application was prepared by the Harlem Urban Development Corporation with research and technical assistance provided by Columbia, Barnard, and Teachers College; the University's program proposals were coordinated by Lionel McIntyre, director of the Urban Technical Assistance Project. Following the awarding of the EZ designation—which made the area eligible for more than $100 million in federal economic assistance and tax incentives, plus another $200 million in matching state and city funds, over a ten-year period—the University has been asked to assist in the development of a technology zone along the western end of 125th Street, where high-tech entrepreneurial efforts will provide substantial employment in the community.

And in yet another partnership that offers important benefits for the community, Columbia has teamed up with Fannie Mae, the nation's largest provider of mortgage financing, on a new initiative to encourage Columbia employees to buy and improve homes within the Empowerment Zone, from 110th Street to Washington Heights.

Community Impact's student-run Peace Games gives children from the surrounding areas practice in conflict resolution.

Administered for the University by Colleen Crooker, vice president for human resources, the pilot plan offers noninterest-bearing, forgivable loans up to $15,000 to qualified employees along with assistance in securing the lowest-cost mortgage financing available. Maximum benefits go to those buying homes in the area directly east of Morningside Park, where a large number of residences are being built or renovated by community development corporations. As new homeowners, our employees will contribute directly to the restoration and development of these buildings; through their involvement in the neighborhood, its schools, and civic activities, they will participate in a fundamental way in the ongoing revitalization of the community.