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Fixit: How are RNC dollar figures calculated?

July 16, 2008 at 9:55PM

Q When calculating how much money the Republican National Convention will bring to the state, how is it done?

A The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development did an economic impact study to come up with the number, said spokeswoman Kirsten Morell.

Basically, the department received estimates from the Minneapolis and St. Paul convention and visitors bureaus. Some initial numbers also came from the Republican Convention host committee. The department then collected information on direct spending amounts -- how much each guest will spend on food, lodging, etc. -- and used those numbers to estimate how many jobs would be created.

The increase in jobs is not necessarily in new positions, Morell explained, but could be overtime and extra hours put in by staff at restaurants and hotels.

Those numbers were plugged into an econometric model, along with secondary activity figures -- such as the spending by suppliers to restaurants, hotels and others connected to the event.

The result was a $162 million gross state product gain, Morell said, adding that this number takes into account typical expenditures associated with the convention.

It's the type of analysis that's done for other large events held here, she said. And the results are similar to projections made by officials in New York and Boston, hosts to the Republican and Democratic conventions four years ago, she added.

Boston, host of the 2004 Democratic convention, anticipated bringing in more than $150 million, according to a news report in the Star Tribune. But analysis after the convention found the net gain to be closer to $14.8 million, after the costs of hosting the convention and the loss of tourist and commuter spending were subtracted.

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Time will tell if that will happen here. It's reported that state economist Tom Stinson said he will be looking at sales tax figures for September to help determine how we fared.

More contractor tips Reader Curtis Thayer said he checked out one contractor with both the state licensing bureau and the Better Business Bureau, but still lost "thousands of dollars, not to mention aggravation." Now he offers the following tips for finding a good contractor:

"I see how their customers rate them. I use Angie's List. I also Google the contractor's name along with the word 'complaint.' It is amazing how many blogs and websites there are that lend a voice to consumers. If I would have done these two things a couple of years back, it would have saved me a lot of money. I would have been a lot wiser and never would have gone with that contractor."

Send your questions to Fixit in care of the Star Tribune, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488, or call 612-673-7032, or e-mail fixit@startribune.com. Past columns are available at www.startribune.com/fixit. Sorry, Fixit cannot supply individual replies.

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KAREN YOUSO, Star Tribune

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