MIT alumni boost local economies

February 27, 2009

Companies founded by alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have pumped billions of dollars into local economies, affirming the power of colleges and universities to spark economic recovery, says a study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The companies also generate hundreds of thousands of jobs for regional economies, especially in Massachusetts, California, New York, Texas and Virginia, says the study, "Entrepreneurial Impact: The Role of MIT."

If all active companies founded by MIT graduates were to form an independent nation, its economy would be at least the 17^th-largest in the world, the study says.

Massachusetts alone is home to about 6,900 alumni-founded companies with worldwide sales of approximately $164 billion, or 26 percent of the sales of all Massachusetts companies.

The 4,100 alumni-founded firms based in California generate an estimated $134 billion in worldwide sales.

The Kauffman Foundation promotes entrepreneurship to boost economies and improve human welfare.

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