Published: July 09, 2009 02:07 pm      

Census bureau opens office for 2010 count in Jeffersonville

Making it count

The U.S. Census Bureau opened its data processing center in Jeffersonville on Wednesday with an open house celebration for media and dignitaries.

The center will process 58 million forms in the coming year, about 20 percent of the total expected nationwide from the 2010 U.S. Census. The center serves 10 states.

The facility, the Census Bureau’s National Processing Center, will employ about 1,350 people.

The bureau is taking applicants for about 700 of the jobs on its Web site, usajobs.gov. About 200 clerks and 500 data transcription workers are needed. Those interested have to use the Web site in order to apply, communications specialist Heather Mitzel noted.

The positions pay about $13 per hour and workers will begin between in late August and September.

“The center is very special,” said Arnold Jackson, associate director for Decennial Census, saying it was a wonderfully developed space. “It’s our safety blanket.”

Peak processing at the center will occur next year between March and August.

The data should be processed by the end of 2010 and will be used for the distribution of more than

$300 billion in federal resources for roads, hospitals and other community services, he said.

Jeffersonville’s is the second of three data capturing centers to be opened for the 2010 census; the others are in Baltimore and Phoenix.

Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan was present at Wednesday’s celebration.

“This census is very important to Jeffersonville and the Louisville metropolitan area,” Galligan said. “I want to thank the census bureau for being in Jeffersonville. In today’s times, it’s very important that these jobs be here.

“It has been an important part of Jeffersonville since 1874. That’s a long history of a great relationship. Thank you and keep coming back.”

What goes on at the facility is vitally important to painting a new portrait of America, said Rick Ruiz, Deputy Program Manager at Lockheed Martin Corp. The company supports the bureau’s response-integration system.

The census is constitutionally mandated and counts have been taking place since 1790.The 2010 Census forms will be mailed to households around March.

At its peak, census processing will employ about 5,000 people nationwide, Mitzel said.

Each worker will take a lifetime oath to keep census information confidential. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with any other government or law enforcement agency.

Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.



GET A JOB

• Those interested in working at Jeffersonville’s National Processing Center have to apply online at usajobs.gov