SCRANTON — Potential didn’t quite trump progress, but it was close.
Announcing Monday the findings of its very first impact report, officials from The Commonwealth Medical College (TCMC) touted its role as the driving force behind an economic engine that in 2014 created more than 260 jobs and infused $65 million into the region’s economy.
Enamored with present-day results, officials became even more ecstatic when discussing their potential to impact the future.
“These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Robert Durkin, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.
Prepared by Pittsburgh-based consulting firm Tripp Umbach, the report examines the fiscal impact TCMC had on the region in 2014, including business volume, direct and indirect employment and government revenue impacts. Research was based off capital and operational expenditures, jobs and payroll information.
The analysis found TCMC to be “integral” to the region’s economic revitalization, measuring last year’s annual impact at $65.2 million. Less than half, or $36.9 million, is derived from indirect impact, or the re-spending of dollars by state companies that purchase more as a result of revenue gained from TCMC staff, students or faculty.
The college also supported 263 jobs and $3.3 million in government revenue impact.
Paul Umbach, president and founder of Tripp Umbach, said the college has already exceeded last year’s figures.
“It’s more than that now and it’s going to be a lot more than that in the future,” Umbach said.
John Moses, TCMC board of trustees member, acknowledged the importance of several of the numbers unveiled in the findings — including $17 million in TCMC staff salaries and a $37 million operating budget — but believed the college’s true value rested with its “regional mission.”
He cited the college’s growing enrollment, comprised by a majority of Pennsylvania residents. In addition to three out of four students being from in-state, about one in three are from Northeastern or Central Pennsylvania, Moses said.
The college’s 2008 charter class had just 65 open seats. Over 7,200 people applied for 105 seats for the Class of 2019.
“We want to make sure that the students that leave here not only leave with the value of a diploma but with the incentive to return here and to continue to contribute not only monetarily, but charitably to the institution,” Moses said.
Its impact isn’t limited to Scranton.
The college is an economic force in cities across the state, educating the region’s youth and creating a footprint for future health care workforce to follow, said Teri Ooms, executive director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development.
“It’s a good neighbor,” Ooms said of the college, which has campuses in Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport in addition to Scranton. “It creates prestige in the communities to which it’s housed and it sends a message that there’s innovation taking place here.”
The progress on Scranton’s campus, where medical students spend their first and second years, was “game changing,” said Wico van Genderen, Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer.
Within the next year, the college will have two additional campuses in East Stroudsburg and Sayre.
“Its impact touches and affects every region,” Moses said.
Dr. Steven Scheinman, TCMC president and dean, introduces speakers at a news conference Monday morning announcing the findings of the college’s first-ever economic impact report.
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Dr. Steven Scheinman, TCMC president and dean, introduces speakers at a news conference Monday morning announcing the findings of the college’s first-ever economic impact report.
Joe Dolinsky | Times Leader
By Joe Dolinsky
jdolinsky@timesleader.com
Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL