Counting on changes - 2010 Census may give boost to state's economy

Jim Stafford
The Oklahoman
November 14, 2006

The 2010 Census promises to be an economic boon both to Oklahoma communities - and job seekers - an official with the U.S. Census Bureau said at a recent conference in Oklahoma City.

"We will employ nearly 10,000 people in the state of Oklahoma for the 2010 Census," said Dennis Johnson, director of the Kansas City Regional Office for the Census Bureau.

Johnson was among a group of speakers at the Oklahoma Census Data Center's 2006 Data Conference last week at the Moore-Norman Career Tech Center on S Pennsylvania Avenue. The conference attracted about 100 participants from cities, counties and economic development agencies throughout the state.

While it's more than three years before the Census will actually be conducted, the Census Bureau has been planning for the big national head count almost since it completed the 2000 Census, Johnson said.

The agency became conducting "test Census" runs in 2004 and expanded that this year, he said. It will conduct a dress rehearsal in 2008 to ensure its high tech methods - using both hand-held computers and global positioning systems - actually work as projected.

As for the impact on Oklahoma cities and counties, Census data is used as a basis for a variety of political apportionments and federal appropriations, Johnson said. That's why it is vital to establish precise locations of dwellings and business establishments for the Census.

"We've made some dramatic improvements in our mapping and our address lists," Johnson. "Our address list is the core item that we need to have accurate.

"It's a census that means dollars for your communities."

Accuracy is especially important to communities and counties whose share of federal appropriations dollars are based on population, he said. In January 2007, the Bureau will launch what it calls the Local Update of Census Address to establish accurate lists using local community contacts.

Last week's conference participation was part of the Bureau's effort to get out the word of the upcoming Census early and often to state and community leaders, said Jeff Wallace, assistant director of research and economic analysis for the Oklahoma Census Data Center. The Census Data Center is a unit of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

The day-long conference featured presentations on using Economic Census data and the American Community Survey, both of which offer statistics valuable to local economic development officers and community leaders.

Breakout sessions included primers on using Census data, an interactive mapping program offered by the Census Bureau called "On the Map," rural development, community and business assistance and more.

"We don't do this annually, but pretty close to annually, just to help spread the word about using Census Data, helping people who use Census Data and making sure everybody hears it a bunch of times," Wallace said.

The Oklahoma Census Data Center offers data collected not only from the U.S. Census Bureau but the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.