NEW YORK, June 6, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — An Economic Impact Report conducted by Consulting Economist Charles Lawton, Ph.D. on behalf of the American Camp Association, Northeast Region reveals that New Jersey’s 1,020 day and residential summer camps have a direct impact of $525 million on the New Jersey economy. Youth camps in the Northeast provide economic benefits and have a direct financial benefit of $3.2 billion annually on nine states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. There are over 6,000 licensed camp programs in the Northeast that employ almost 175,000 people seasonally and 10,000 full-time.
The direct economic impact of the youth summer camp industry comes from three main sources:
- Employment
New Jersey camps employ 27,700 seasonal workers and 1,600 full-time workers who receive $195 million in wages. The 16-to-24 age group holds most of the seasonal jobs, helping a demographic with a New Jersey unemployment rate of 11.4% (2016 statistic). Besides the economic impact, youth camps also foster the non-academic life skills that U.S employers seek when hiring for jobs. These are the skills that aren’t learned in school and can’t be measured on standardized tests including creativity, communication, leadership, resilience and teamwork.
- Spending
Besides payroll, New Jersey camps spend more than $520 million on goods and services in the Northeast including food, supplies, fuel, marketing, banking, maintenance and repair in small, local communities who rely heavily on this income. Northeast camps from Maine to Pennsylvania spend $2.5 billion on goods and services.
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- Camps as Tourist Destinations
Each summer, millions of young people go to day and overnight camp in the Northeast. As a result, there is a great deal of intra-regional, out-of-region and out-of-country tourism. Family trips surrounding drop-off day, pick-up day, visiting day, and visits from prospective campers are common. The communities surrounding camps see increased spending on lodging, meals, transportation, shopping and recreation by families visiting camps and campers. New Jersey camps attract 16,000 visitors who spend over $5 million annually. According to the American Camp Association, Northeast Region’s Economic Impact Study, when the indirect economic impact, which includes tourism, is added in, the total economic contribution to the Northeast rises to $8 billion.
