Under the focus area on “healthy coastal ecosystems”, the following industries were identified as the target beneficiaries of the REEO projects conducted or funded by the MASGC, namely: (1) research and development in biotechnology, (2) research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences and (3) research and development in the social sciences and humanities.
The MASGC (2014) works to protect, enhance and restore coastal ecosystems. Many of MASGC’s research projects and outreach activities include working with resource managers. MASGC provides them with the tools they need to make management decisions. Some of those tools include research, data, scientific models and best management practices.
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:
- Research and development in biotechnology
- Research and development in the physical, engineering, and life sciences
- Research and development in the social sciences and humanities
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.