By Florita Montgomery
IT IS BIG.
It is spreading.
And, it is already leaking.
But, according to WVU experts, that is all great news.
The experts' preliminary assessment isn't a medical report. But it is a health checkup—one that turned out to be a healthy report about West Virginia's multi-million-dollar equine industry.
The checkup—the West Virginia Equine Economic Impact Study—is providing baseline economic data for and about a group of small businesses not generally considered "an industry" in this state.
That's changing. Previously quiet and almost invisible, the horse industry is stepping forward to claim its mantle as a major force within West Virginia's economy.
Running unmonitored—until now—was the "general-use" equine sector. Maintaining 49,000 horses for pleasure and non-racing businesses, this family-centered sector annually sustains 7,400 jobs and generates an estimated $173.2 million.
The WVU benchmark study is brimming with first-time data that will have value for segments of various business communities.
"Many individuals and businesses across the state of West Virginia directly attribute all or part of their income and profits to the equine industry," reported Jean Woloshuk, WVU Extension professor and cochair of the economic impact study. "These businesses include horse breeders, trainers, boarding facilities, veterinarians, farm managers, truck and trailer dealers, blacksmiths, feed dealers, and horse equipment store owners."
The economic benefits also expand into other industries. "Lodging and restaurant establishments located near equestrian activities and events experience a huge influx of customers, as do other retail businesses," Woloshuk said.
Working through the data, researchers discovered that the responding group annually spends more than 20,500 combined days enjoying some type of equine activity. About 75 percent of that time is spent in West Virginia, generating millions of dollars benefiting family, business, and state budgets.
The remaining 25 percent is lost.
Those days, spent in other states, translate into dollars that support jobs elsewhere.
Business owners may be interested in this "leakage." That's the term David Hughes, WVU Extension Service economist and professor, used to describe the outflow of West Virginia dollars into other states' coffers.
An eye-opening figure for the economist is the number of days specific interests are pursued in facilities beyond the Mountain State. For example, only 44 percent of those pursuing the English riding disciplines remained in-and, therefore, kept their dollars in—West Virginia.
The equine economic picture is still incomplete. Hughes cautioned that the report's calculations have yet to factor in dollars from the industry's more visible sector: racing. That part of the checkup is under way.
Hughes, who shares committee chair duties with Woloshuk, said that the racing sector's figures should markedly increase the final economic tally. As high-maintenance animals, race horses generally generate far more dollars.
As Hughes explained the preliminary figures, the economist was careful to reign in potential runaway expectations. This study, he said, is not a facilities feasibility study.
Woloshuk, along with other Extension faculty, started dreaming about a statewide baseline study in the fall of 2001. A few months later, she helped organize a state horse alliance. The group became the West Virginia Horse Council Inc.
Within a few months, the horse council, West Virginia Department of Agriculture, WVU Extension Service, WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Sciences, and other allies were working with the Economic Development Committee of the West Virginia Legislature.
The project received a $25,000 state grant in 2003.
The final report will be released this summer. It will be available on the Web via both the West Virginia Horse Council and on the WVU Extension Service's site.
Then, according to WVU Extension educators, the real work will begin.
Bit by bit, portions of the report will find their way into Extension faculty members' time-tested informal educational outreach—from their individual face-to-face conversations with local horse owners to their roundtable discussions with county economic development boards.