calculating economic benefits

Resources for the Sea Grant Network

Sea Grant’s economic data is compelling. It generates powerful stories and metrics that convey the richness of our work in the communities we serve. Increasing our capacity to capture economic benefits and impacts in ways that are clear, pragmatic and defensible is a priority for the National Sea Grant College Program.

In 2017, the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) contracted with Eastern Research Group (ERG) to examine the economic benefits and impacts collected by Sea Grant programs.  This project had three objectives 

• • Improve reliability of the benefits and impacts reported by programs
  • Increase consistency for how programs calculate and communicate this information 
  • Facilitate the ability of non-economists to do this work  

Two sets of products were created

• • A set of recommendations for the NSGO
  • A suite of tools for Sea Grant programs, including eleven methodology guides.