ALBANY COUNTY — The University at Albany has set up a committee of representatives from industry, government, and local businesses that will meet for the first time this month.

The formation of the President’s Industry and Economic Development Advisory Board as it is called followed the release of a report late last year that showed UAlbany generates $1.1 billion in economic activity throughout the Capital Region.

The initial goals of the new board are to align the university’s research with industry needs, to attract and retain top talent at UAlbany and in the Capital Region, to refine approaches to research translation and commercialization, and to drive regional economic development.

The university engaged the Capital District Regional Planning Commission to assess its overall economic impact on the region. The commission performed similar analyses in 2003, 2008, 2010, and 2018.

In 2018, the commission found UAlbany had an annual economic impact on the Capital Region equal to $1 billion.

The area included in this and earlier commission studies consists of eight counties — Warren and Washington counties to the north of the Capital District; Columbia and Greene counties to the south; and the Capital District itself, made up of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties  — with a total land mass of 5,185 square miles.

The current population for that area is 1.1 million, which includes about half-a-million households. The average household income is about $79,000.

The gross regional product, meaning the total value of goods and services, for the Capital Region is nearly $87 billion.

The report lists the 10 major industries by income in the region, starting with state government (non-education) followed by local government (education), scientific research and development services, hospitals, offices of physicians, local government (non-educational), insurance carriers, management of companies, architectural and engineering services, and employment services.

The University at Albany has three campuses: the uptown campus, which is partly in the city of Albany and partly in the town of Guilderland; the downtown campus in the city of Albany, its original home; and a health-sciences campus in Rensselaer.

UAlbany’s largest economic impact — nearly three quarters of the $1.1 billion — is from university operations, which creates 6,705 jobs and contributes $814 million per year.

That is followed by construction impact, which makes up about one-fifth of the $1.1 billion, creating 1,396 jobs and contributing $212 million annually.

Since the commission’s 2018 report, UAlbany is in the midst of renovating, for $85 million, the former Albany High School to serve as the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering; it has spent $180 million on the ETEC (originally an acronym for Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurship Complex) facility located next the the uptown campus at the Harriman State Office Campus; and it has updated dormitories on the uptown campus while also creating new recreational and health centers there.

The impact of student spending accounts for about $80 million per year followed by the impact of visitor spending at $7 million per year.

The report notes that UAlbany is one of four R1 centers within the state university system. The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation have developed a classification system to rate universities on their research capabilities.

Research 1 is the top classification, meaning that, on average in a single year, the institute spends at least $50 million on research and development and produces at least 70 research doctorates. The next classifications, Research 2, means the institution spends at least $5 million and produces at least 20 research doctorates.

The commission’s report on UAlbany states, “Its faculty and students are creating critical new knowledge in fields such as artificial intelligence, atmospheric and environmental sciences, business, education, public health, social sciences, criminal justice, emergency preparedness, engineering, informatics, public administration, and social welfare.”

Calling UAlbany “a critical research and commercialization hub,” the report says the university leads the Capital Region in research and development expenditures at $142 million in 2023.

This is followed closely by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at $122 million, trailed by Skidmore College at $2.3 million and Union College at $1.8 million. (A college or university must spend at least at least $2.5 million on research and development to be classified in the Carnegie system.).

The report says UAlbany expects to “significantly increase” its research-and-development expenditures due to the newly expanded College of Nanotechnology, Science and Engineering.

In October, the University at Albany announced its new artificial intelligence “super computer,” part of a $37 million update in computing infrastructure. Also, the RNA Institute at the university has recently been designated as a Center of Excellence by the Empire State Development's Division of Science, Technology and Innovation.

The report also says UAlbany “emphasizes making college accessible to first-generation students and those from underrepresented backgrounds.”

The student body over the years has become more diverse: In 2023, undergraduate students of a minority race or ethnicity made up 56.6 percent of the student body while first-generation students made up 35 percent.

The commission reports that the University at Albany is rated in the top tier of the Third Way’s Economic Mobility Index, placing it in the top 20 percent of institutions that are “unambiguously delivering strong economic mobility outcomes” to students.

Third Way is a national public-policy think tank that describes itself as championing modern center-left ideals and released its new college-ranking system in 2022. The Ivy League schools weren’t in the top tier.

Third Way’s Economic Mobility Index mathematically combines two variables: the amount of time it takes low-income students from a given school to recoup the costs of paying for their education and the proportion of students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds enrolled at each college.

“The number one reason a student goes to college today is to get a good job and climb the income ladder,” says Third Way’s explanation of its index. “Institutions faring well on the EMI go above and beyond to ensure that their students can finance their education sustainably and receive demonstrated return on investment from their college credential.”

UAlbany has also been regularly ranked among the top institutions for social mobility by U. S. News and World Report and the Wall Street Journal, the commission’s report notes.

The report found that student spending accounts for $80.8 million annually. This includes spending on transportation, books, personal expenses, and room and board for off-campus students only.

Spending by visitors to UAlbany had an economic impact of $7.3 million across the Capital Region and “had a positive impact on over 51 jobs in 2023,” the report says.

In addition, the report says, athletic camps and events at the university draw 163,9000 visitors to campus, about half of whom are not affiliated with the university. The commission found the “visitor impact” totaled $7.3 million.

Commencement alone draws over 19,000 attendees not affiliated with the university, the report says.

It also cites a survey from Discover Albany that found UAlbany is one of the top destinations for regional visitors.

Visitors who attended an event at the Albany Capital Center from July 2022 to July 2023 were asked where else they visited. Top responses included UAlbany, the MVP Arena, Crossgates Mall, The College of Saint Rose, Colonie Center Mall, Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany International Airport, The Egg, the Empire State Plaza Visitor Center, and Albany City Hall.

“Direct spending leads to multiple rounds of additional spending,” the report says, “providing further stimulus to the local economy.”

Members of the newly formed advisory board that will steer economic development in the future include: Dave Anderson of NY CREATES; Mark Eagan of the Capital Region Chamber and Center for Economic Growth; Mukesh Khare of IBM; Theodore Letavic of GlobalFoundries; Shari Liss of SEMI Foundation at SEMI; Andy Marsh of Plug Power; Dennis McKenna of the Albany Med Health System; Amber Rangel Mooney of National Grid; Alexander Oscilowski of TEL Technology Center America; and Daniel Van Plew of Regeneron.