M1683

The Economic Contribution of Forestry and Forest Products in Covington County

Covington County

The forestry and forest products industries are a major component of Covington County’s economy. The forest-related economic sectors generate value not only within their own sectors but also in other sectors of the economy. The multiplier effect of economic activity in one sector and the impacts on other sectors can be estimated using input-output analysis. Using 2022 data, this study estimates the economic contribution of the forestry and forest products industries to Covington County, Mississippi.

Employment and Income Contributions

Forest-related economic activity in Covington County during 2022 generated 390 jobs and nearly $16.36 million in income. That’s about 4.59 percent of jobs and 3.98 percent of income in the county. Employment is the number of full- and part-time jobs in all sectors of the economy. Income includes all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income, also referred to as labor income.

Total Output and Value-Added Contributions

Over $65.04 million, or about 1.32 percent of economic output in Covington County, is generated by the forestry and forest products industries. Forest-related value-added amounted to over $26.18 million, or about 2.76 percent of all value-added in the county. The value of all goods and services produced is defined as total output. Value-added is a portion of total output and represents the creation of new wealth.

Table 1. Contributions from forest-related sectors on employment and income in Covington County, Mississippi, 2022.

Sectors	Number of Jobs	% of County	Income ($)	% of County
Direct Contribution from Forest Related Sectors
Forest Support Service	106	1.25	1,818,541	0.44
Logging	152	1.79	7,510,714	1.83
Solid Wood Product	85	1.00	5,213,795	1.27
Pulp and Paper	0	0.00	15,169	0.00
Wood Furniture	2	0.02	70,105	0.02
Subtotal	345	4.06	14,628,324	3.56
Indirect and Induced Contributions on Sectors
Retail and Wholesale Trade	15	0.18	513,703	0.12
Real Estate, Finance, and Insurance	5	0.06	138,333	0.03
Services	13	0.15	283,002	0.07
Construction and Manufacturing	0	0.00	18,549	0.00
Health Care	3	0.04	154,807	0.04
Transportation and Warehousing	4	0.05	324,616	0.08
Government	1	0.01	54,587	0.01
Agriculture Production and Services	3	0.04	189,655	0.05
Food and Fiber	1	0.01	42,014	0.01
Hotels and Entertainment	1	0.01	13,701	0.00
Education	0	0.00	2,220	0.00
Subtotal	46	0.54	1,735,187	0.42
Total Impact from Forest Related Sector	390	4.59	16,363,511	3.98
Rest of the County	8,102	95.40	394,986,882	96.02
Total in County	8,493	100.00	411,350,393	100.00

Table 2. Contributions from forest-related sectors on total output and value-added in Covington County, Mississippi, 2022.

Sectors	Output ($)	% of County	Value-Added ($)	% of County
Direct Contribution from Forest Related Sectors
Forest Support Service	2,462,571	0.05	1,908,557	0.20
Logging	14,655,786	0.30	8,472,604	0.89
Solid Wood Product	38,394,210	0.78	11,976,061	1.26
Pulp and Paper	82,574	0.00	15,838	0.00
Wood Furniture	332,707	0.01	72,036	0.01
Subtotal	55,927,848	1.13	22,445,096	2.37
Indirect and Induced Contributions on Sectors
Retail and Wholesale Trade	2,196,574	0.04	1,181,059	0.12
Real Estate, Finance, and Insurance	1,681,648	0.03	1,035,143	0.11
Services	1,088,173	0.02	399,514	0.04
Construction and Manufacturing	535,963	0.01	69,049	0.01
Health Care	272,195	0.01	164,432	0.02
Transportation and Warehousing	1,318,511	0.03	587,708	0.06
Government	68,602	0.00	68,010	0.01
Agriculture Production and Services	1,583,857	0.03	146,913	0.02
Food and Fiber	317,433	0.01	58,301	0.01
Hotels and Entertainment	40,411	0.00	24,047	0.00
Education	5,912	0.00	2,495	0.00
Subtotal	9,109,279	0.18	3,736,671	0.39
Total Impact from Forest Related Sector	65,037,127	1.32	26,181,767	2.76
Rest of the County	4,867,434,248	98.68	922,422,212	97.24
Total in County	4,932,471,375	100.00	948,603,979	100.00

Estimates developed using IMPLAN software and data. Timber harvest value according to the Mississippi Harvest of Forest Products Report.

M1683 (POD-07-25)

Revised by Sabhyata Lamichhane, PhD, Assistant Professor, Niraj Gupta, Undergraduate Student, and Sushma Bhattarai, PhD, Extension Associate I, Forestry; James E. Henderson, PhD, Extension Professor and Head, Coastal Research and Extension Center; and Donald Grebner, PhD, Professor and Head, Forestry. By Shaun M. Tanger, PhD, former Assistant Extension Professor; Marcus K. Measells, former Extension Associate III, Forestry; and Ian A. Munn, PhD, former Associate Dean and Professor.

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M1683