Rebecca Cunningham, interim vice president for research
The Institute for Research on Innovation and Science, based at the U-M Institute for Social Research, recently released a report that details how university research spending impacts the economy.
“Research led by the University of Michigan not only serves the world through groundbreaking discoveries and technologies, but it also plays a critical role in accelerating the economy,” said Rebecca Cunningham, interim vice president for research.
The report outlines the geographic distribution of vendors that, between fiscal years 2002 and 2019, supplied goods and services to support the U-M research enterprise.
Companies based in Washtenaw County, for example, received more than $976 million in research contracts from U-M over the 17-year span — the most of any Michigan county. Vendors in Marquette County received more than $53 million between FY ’02 and FY ’19 for their work in supporting the U-M research enterprise, while those in Kent County netted $17 million.
The report also shows the university contributed $5.6 billion to the national economy through vendor contracts and subcontracts between FY ’02 and FY ’19 — $1.8 billion of which was spent in Michigan.
