Steve Ha didn’t anticipate drawing statewide attention when he set out to calculate the local economic impact of SNAP and Medicaid funding for the Jackson County Department of Social Services (DSS) in Sylva.
The Western Carolina University economics professor said he was shocked when people in Raleigh started reaching out.
“Why do they contact me?” Ha said, still a little dumbfounded. “I mean, I’m like 300 miles away, and there are major R1 universities in that area. I was surprised because I didn’t check all the studies and literature before I started to do the work, but all of a sudden, I realized that this is a significantly underdeveloped area.”
Jackson County DSS Director Cris Weatherford provided Ha with the necessary data. In return, Ha produced a study which found that SNAP and Medicaid dollars have an estimated $144 million economic impact in Jackson County alone. That impact supports 1,211 jobs, generates $61 million in labor income, and produces $18.9 million in federal, state, county, and subcounty tax revenues.
