Under the focus area on “environmental literacy and workforce development”, five industries were identified as the target beneficiaries of the REEO projects conducted or funded by the MASGC, namely: (1) other justice, public order, and safety activities, (2) administration of air and water resource and solid waste management programs, (3) administration of general economic programs, (4) regulation of agricultural marketing and commodities and (5) household sector.
The MASGC (2014) website states that “environmental literacy and workforce skills in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and other disciplines related to coastal resources are important to the populations that Sea Grant serves. Further, the MASGC website states that these skills advance cutting-edge research, promote sound resource management and maintain a globally competitive workforce.”
The U.S. industries and economic sectors were identified through the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS, 2014). Each industry or sector was identified with a NAICS code and an industry or sector name. The most recent economic indicators about these industries or sectors were compiled from various secondary sources or estimated by using economic impact analysis.
The most current economic indicators include total sales impacts and total job or employment impacts which are mostly estimated under an IMPLAN (MIG, 2014) platform. In some cases, the direct employment or job impacts were compiled using the Economic Modeling Specialists (EMSI, 2014) software and data for the states of Alabama and Mississippi.
These economic indicators provide the benchmarks for estimating the marginal economic impacts of each MASGC research, education, extension and outreach project undertaken or which will be conducted in the region. These economic values represent the upper limit of the market impacts of these economic sectors.
The long-term economic contributions of these sectors in the regional economies of Mississippi and Alabama are as follows:
- Other justice, public order, and safety activities
- Administration of air and water resource and solid waste management programs
- Administration of general economic programs
- Regulation of agricultural marketing and commodities
- Legal Services
- Private households
Source: Posadas, Benedict C. 2014. Economic Sectors Targeted By The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Research, Extension, Education And Outreach Programs. Mississippi State University Extension Service Publication 2849 and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Publication MASGP-14-007. Mississippi State, Mississippi.