When Marvia Mitchell (pictured) moved from North Bay two years ago to take a full-time faculty position at the Orillia Campus of Georgian College, she needed to choose everything from a grocery store to a gas station.

Mitchell teaches in the Communicative Disorders Assistant program; part of Georgian’s University Partnership Centre. Her story provides a clear example of the major economic impact the College has on Orillia and area.

In her first few months in the City, Mitchell bought a condo in Orillia, hired local painters to redecorate, and purchased all new lighting and furniture from local stores. It was only the beginning.

“I’ve gradually managed to move all of my services to Orillia,” she says. “I have my car serviced here and a local accountant now does my taxes. I’ve found an esthetician in Orillia, and a cleaning woman. I have a local dentist and this week I have an appointment with an Orillia optometrist to get my eyes checked.”

All of these businesses benefit from Mitchell’s employment at Georgian. Multiply that effect by the spending of numerous staff on the Orillia Campus, not to mention the student spending which has an even greater economic impact, and it all adds up.

That’s the conclusion of a study just completed by Dr. Chris Sarlo of the School of Business and Economics at Nipissing University. He calculates that Georgian’s Orillia Campus contributes $22 million every year to the economy of Orillia and the immediately surrounding area.

And the estimate is a conservative one because it only considers the spending of staff and full-time students who actually live in the Orillia area. Commuters, who would spend mostly in their home communities, aren’t included in the study. Neither are part-time students because they generally already live in the area.

Sarlo does include a percentage of benefits spent locally – Mitchell’s trips to the dentist and optometrist are an example. He also includes money the College spends locally on supplies and services, and the spending of parents and other visitors who come for preview days or convocation.

Sarlo adds a multiplier effect of 1.5 per cent to his calculation, because all of this spending generates further ‘rounds’ of income and spending within the community. For example, Mitchell’s accountant will go out to dinner at a local restaurant. Her auto mechanic will buy shoes at a downtown store.

By Sarlo’s calculation, the multiplier effect means the Orillia Campus of Georgian College, “is responsible for a total of 174 full-time jobs in the community, 174 jobs that would not be there but for the existence of the Orillia Campus.” His report concludes, “The Orillia Campus of Georgian College contributes significantly to the local Orillia economy . . . This is $22 million that would be taken out of the local economy if the Orillia Campus did not exist.”

Mitchell is happy to make that economic contribution, but that’s not what brought her here. In North Bay, she was a speech language pathologist who provided work placements for the Georgian students she now teaches. They were great ambassadors for the Sunshine City.

“I had a really good feeling for Orillia before I ever moved here,” she says. “The students always spoke very highly about Georgian, the Orillia Campus in particular and the City of Orillia in general. That’s why I was interested in the job when it was posted. I knew the quality of the students and I respected their opinions. I knew about the waterfront and Mariposa Market and Theo’s before I ever came to Orillia!”

You can’t put a price tag on that.