Even if you ignore the fact that Harding University is one of the top three largest employers in Searcy, it is hard to ignore that, with a student body of more than 6,000 students, Harding has a serious impact on local businesses and economy.
Buck Layne, who has been president of the Searcy chamber of commerce since 1991, said he estimates the fiscal impact of Harding’s student body on Searcy is more than $6 million annually.
“It’s a phenomenal number,” Layne said. “That number changes, of course — I’ve seen it anywhere from $2 million to around $8 million — but I don’t even really care about the exact number. It does wonders for the economy.”
Layne said his estimate not only includes the money students spend, but also money people spend when they come to Harding for any of the variety of events on campus.
“When it’s Spring Sing weekend, all the hotels are booked, and when there are sporting events or any kind of competition, they draw in people from all over,” Layne said. “There was a robotics competition at Harding recently, for example, and I heard there were over 600 students from 10 states represented there. There are all kinds of things going on at the school.”
Layne said Harding’s faculty and administration also plays a major role in the local business community and economy. He said people like Chancellor David Burks, who currently serves on the chamber board, have long taken an interest and active role in partnering with nearby businesses.
For instance, Layne said that in 2012, Harding administrators led the way to plan and build a new terminal at the Searcy Municipal Airport.
“There are, of course, some obvious reasons they would have an interest in it,” Layne said. “Harding uses it quite a bit, bringing in internationally known speakers from time to time, for trying to recruit people, for having board meetings. But they also were willing to lead the charge, if you will. Anything like that, they have been behind, be it a tax or any issue that will make our town a better place to live, they are always supportive.”
The only major problem existing between Searcy businesses and Harding students, Layne said, is the fact that since so many students are from out of town, relatively few decide to stay in the area after graduation. He said he hopes to find new ways to get students involved with Searcy businesses before they graduate so they will have a greater interest in returning down the road.
Lori Sloan, associate professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration, teaches a class that does just that. Sloan’s marketing strategies class, a capstone course for marketing majors, puts students into direct working relationships with area businesses.
“The class is set up for students to work with a real client and to meet with them, ask questions, assess needs and wants and game plan for a marketing strategy, and they present that plan to the client at the end of the semester,” Sloan said.
Sloan said her class works with businesses like Plum Peacock, Midnight Oil, Pasta Grill and Sowell’s Furniture. Because she makes sure her students become familiar with the businesses they work with, Sloan said the plans they create are usually implemented successfully by the businesses.
She said she also likes to see campus leaders take initiative to go out and get involved in local events and get to know business leaders. She said she hopes groups like the Student Association pursue contacts with organizations like the chamber of commerce.
Burks said that given Harding’s desire to recruit students and that so many of its employees and students are temporary or permanent Searcy-area residents, the university and everyone associated with it have every reason to support business and community initiatives.
“We have a fairly large student body and a staff of over 1,000 people and therefore have a tremendous payroll,” Burks said. “They come to Searcy and buy houses, send their kids to school, retire here — of course, that has a tremendous impact on the community here, but they are part of that community. We all have a very good reason for wanting to always make Searcy a better place to live.”
