FLINT, MI - (December 16, 2003) - The Crim Festival of Races - Flint's premier annual tourist tradition - delivered a powerful $8.5m boost to the Genesee County economy in 2003, according to a study just completed by the University of Michigan-Flint's School of Management. More than 13,000 participants are attracted to Flint's annual showcase event each August, and runners at the Crim in recent years represented 42 U.S. states, 20 countries, and five continents. In contrast, the Boston Marathon, a world-renowned, century-old event attracts 14,500 runners. Including spectators, the crowds in downtown Flint for the 2003 Crim were estimated at almost 50,000 people for the three day event.

The recently completed study by UM-Flint on the economic impact of the of Crim Festival Races on the Flint economy was conducted by Mark J. Perry, Associate Professor of Finance, in conjunction with undergraduate student, Darryl Barber of Davison, who worked on the project as part of an independent study under Professor Perry.

Professor Perry and Barber used data on Crim attendance over the last 12 years, and followed the generally accepted statistical procedures to estimate the economic impact of tourism and special events on a local economy. Further, they had access to data from 1993 and 1997 surveys of Crim participants about how money much they spent while in Flint, how long they stayed in Flint on average, and how many guests accompanied them to the race. Using this survey data, the research team was able to first calculate the direct spending in Flint during the 2003 Crim Festival of Races, on groceries, restaurant meals, hotels, entertainment, race registration, etc. This direct spending by non-local participants and guests each August during the Crim Race is the estimated, initial amount of new money that enters the Flint economy solely because of the race, and was estimated to be $5.4m in 2003.

Once new money is injected into a local economy in the form of direct spending, there are secondary effects on spending and earnings as the new money begins to circulate locally, and generates additional spending. Based on: 1) sector-specific economic multipliers supplied by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the Department of Commerce, and 2) the direct spending amount of $5.4m, it was next possible to calculate: a) Total or Gross Spending in Genesee County, b) earnings generated in the local labor market from the increased spending, and c) the number of jobs in Flint supported by the increased spending and income. For 2003, attendees at the Crim Race generated $8.5m in Total Gross Sales for the local economy, boosted earnings for local workers by $3.4m, and helped support approximately 184 full and part-time jobs in the Flint economy.

Looking back over the period from 1992-2003, and making adjustments for annual attendance and annual changes in the price level, Perry and Barber were also able to estimate that the Crim Festival of Races had had a whopping $91.5m impact on the Flint economy over the last ten years. "The Crim Festival of Races is a first-class athletic event for The City of Flint, and we now know that the Crim is also a first-class economic event for the Flint community," said Professor Perry. "The Crim Race brings people from all parts of Michigan, from 20 countries, and from 42 states to the Flint area every August for three days, and in the process generates $8.5m of solid financial benefits to the local economy. There is no other single, annual tourist event that comes anywhere close to generating that level of economic impact for the City of Flint."

Barber, who will graduate in May 2004 from UM-Flint with a B.A. in economics, plans to attend graduate school at Florida State University to study applied economics, and he hopes this research project will help prepare him for his graduate studies. "This independent study on the economic impact of the Crim Race gave me the opportunity to gain valuable experience in applied research by working under an experienced professor and researcher," said Darryl Barber. "I was able to go beyond my typical classroom experience by actually applying my knowledge about economics and statistics to a real-world case study. The Crim Race study increased my motivation to pursue graduate studies in applied economics, because I have seen first-hand how important and satisfying applied research can be. It was extremely rewarding for me when I saw how excited the Crim people got about our results!"

Professor Perry emphasized Barber's role in the study by saying, "Darryl's contribution to the research project was extremely important and significant. I provided him with some general guidance and direction about economic impact studies at the beginning of the semester, but he did most of the initial statistical analysis and estimation for the Crim Race case study. In the end, we collaborated on every part of the final results, but it was Darryl's initial research on economic impact studies that laid the groundwork for the final report on the Crim Race. He worked very hard, and I learned a lot myself working with Darryl over the semester."

Perry also said, "Hopefully the economic impact study of the Crim Race serves to advance one of the core goals of the University of Michigan- Flint, as expressed recently by Chancellor Juan Mestas: University professors engaging in applied research that has a potentially positive and important impact on the local community. It's important for professors to interact with the local community through outreach activities, and I hope this is an example of how applied research efforts by UM-Flint professors and students can benefit the Flint community."

Perry and Barber intend to continue their study on the economic impact of the Crim Race on the Genesee County economy by: 1) releasing a final, comprehensive 30 page report in January 2004 on the economic impact of the 2003 Crim Race, 2) designing a detailed survey instrument that will be given to the 2004 Crim Race participants to assess their spending while in Genesee County, and 3) analyzing the economic impact of the 2004 Crim Race on the Flint area economy based on the results of the survey results.