Vancouver is a baseball town. With the recent outpouring of support I’ve seen for the minor league baseball team looking to relocate here, there’s no doubt about that. This effort [to bring a team here] will result in a great community facility that youth groups and sports teams will benefit from for generations. In addition, baseball can be a great economic opportunity. While the degree of that opportunity differs from city to city, Vancouver is positioned especially well for successful economic outcomes as well as an increase to our quality of life.
Let’s start by looking at jobs. It’s anticipated that a minor league baseball team would create 15-20 full-time jobs to support their operations year round. Players and managers salaries are paid for by the Arizona Diamondbacks, not the team and not through any local funds. We do, however, get to benefit from the local purchases those players make while in town. In addition to the core staff, about 150-200 part-time jobs will be created in the summer months. This typically provides an important additional revenue source for our teachers and local students who are looking for what might be otherwise scarce public jobs. A good example of this is my nephew who works at Seattle’s SafeCo Field in the summer to help pay for his bio-engineering studies at UW. These are great jobs and opportunities to work that just don’t exist on this side of the river.
Economists (and I want to be clear that I am far from one) use a multiplier to explain the economic benefit of new money in a market. It considers how the direct recipients of the funds tend to spend their money at places such as restaurants, theaters, shopping, etc. The full-time jobs create an estimated payroll of $800,000 and the part-time work adds another $200,000, according to Short Season LLC, the owners of the team looking to move here. Using a 2.25 multiplier for economic impact, the jobs alone will generate roughly $2.25 million in economic activity.
We must also consider the money that the team itself (not including revenue generated from state or collegiate tournaments) will spend locally. According to Short Season LLC, about 85 percent of the team’s expense budget is spent locally. An estimated $400,000 will be spent with local vendors on food/beverage to be sold in the concession stands. This will also create a demand for 1,200-1,500 new hotel room occupancies for the visiting team, umpires, MLB staff, player’s friends and family. The team has said they are committed to negotiating with a local hotel for that expense. That number doesn’t take into account fans that travel from other areas to come and watch our team. An additional $30,000 will be spent with a local transportation company. They will also spend an estimated $75-$100,000 on utilities (phone, internet, gas, power, etc.). The list is extensive, but the outcome is clear: Everyone in the community will feel the positive economic impacts of this move.
This next decade will be a defining time for the city of Vancouver and Clark County. This project will create much needed tax revenue for core services, economic activity for businesses, opportunities for college athletes, students and youth. It will be a great community asset for all. Throw in the addition of the amazing owners who have a strong track record of community involvement, and it’s hard not to like this project. While many details still need to be worked out, now is not the time for political games or attention-getting antics. It’s time to come together and play ball!
Mike Bomar is the executive director for the Southwest Washington Contractors Association and the founder of the Facebook page “Bring Pro Baseball to Vancouver” located at www.facebook.com/baseballvancouver. He can be reached at Mike@swca.org.
