News Release
May 2, 2008

Surveys to Teton County businesses seek impacts of foreign workers

Surveys will be sent to Teton County businesses the week of May 5-9 as part of an effort to study the influence of foreign-born workers on the county’s economy.

Businesses in the county have been randomly selected for inclusion in the study. The research is being conducted by the University of Wyoming Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and the UW Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES).

            The request came from the Teton County Board of County Commissioners and Town of Jackson to the UW CES, according to Mary Martin, UW CES educator in Jackson.

Businesses will be asked about number of employees, payroll, benefits provided and costs, in addition to other questions.

Household information was gleaned this past tax season through volunteers who help foreign-born workers file taxes, said Martin. Households were asked about occupation, months worked, household size and spending patterns, said David “Tex” Taylor, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in the UW College of Agriculture.  Household expenditures will be obtained again in late summer.

Officials want to have a better understanding of how spending by foreign workers affects the community, and as a workforce how it contributes, how and where spending occurs, the impact on local businesses, and the associated benefits and costs to government, Martin said.

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Contact: Steven L. Miller, Senior Editor
Phone: (307) 766-6342
E-mail: slmiller@uwyo.edu
Archived News Site http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/news.asp

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