March
2009
The University of Kansas: The Economic Engine that Drives Lawrence By Tom Kern Did you ever wonder how much KU actually spends in the Lawrence business community each year on goods and services? We are just talking about the University of Kansas and not its three other subsidiaries (KU-Endowment, KU-Alumni and KU-Athletics). These three organizations inject a great deal of revenue into the local economy, but this article only focuses on the University itself. First and foremost is the $310 million that KU put into the local economy from the payroll of its 9,691 Lawrence campus employees. Many of these employees live in Lawrence. They purchase goods and services here and pay taxes that support our schools, the City and the County. In 2008 the University of Kansas spent over $13,000,000 with Lawrence based businesses. KU purchased a variety of goods and services, everything from flowers to office supplies, to construction materials and professional services. Listed below, by category, is a sampling of the purchases made by KU with Lawrence businesses in 2008: • Construction (includes materials, supplies, labor, etc) • Municipal Services (water, sewer, waste collection, etc) • Professional Services (Legal, Architectural, Engineering, etc) • Child Care
$ $ $ $
2,579,000 2,076,000 1,709,000 970,000
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