Fredericksburg.com - Census begins hiring locally

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Census materials are stored in a portion of the new Fredericksburg office. Some hiring is under way.
PETER CIHELKA/THE FREE LANCE-STAR

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Census begins hiring locally
Census office opens
Date published: 1/15/2010

BY EMILY BATTLE

Want to help cut down on federal spending?

Then take the time to fill out and mail back your census questionnaire when it arrives in your mailbox in mid-March.

For every 1 percent of Americans who don't mail back the questionnaire, the federal government has to spend between $80 million and $90 million hiring people to track them down, according to Jeanie White Presto, assistant regional manager of the U.S. Census Bureau for the Charlotte region.

Presto and other officials yesterday celebrated the opening of the Fredericksburg local Census office, which will be the home base for Census employees covering a 13-county region that also includes the city of Fredericksburg.

The office actually opened in October, but is gearing up to operate at full force.

The office already employs about 36 people and leases about 10,000 square feet of space in Spotsylvania County's Jackson Square office park.

Office managers expect to have around 750 temporary jobs available as the Census count gets rolling. The office is expected to stay open through August of this year.

The duration of the jobs will vary, but most will last for a matter of weeks.

The hiring process has already begun, and anyone interested should call 866/861-2010 or visit 2010cen susjobs.gov.

Nationwide, the Census Bureau expects to fill 1.4 million temporary jobs.

In the 2000 census, 67 percent of Americans returned their questionnaires by mail. The rate was higher in Virginia, where 72 percent of residents returned the questionnaire.

Residents should look for questionnaires to show up in their mailboxes around March 15-17.

"This is going to be the shortest questionnaire we have ever used," Presto said. "It's 10 questions and it will take you 10 minutes to fill out."

Presto also emphasized that all information provided to the Census Bureau is confidential; the bureau publishes only the numbers, not specific information connected to individuals.

The Fredericksburg office covers the city of Fredericksburg, along with Caroline, Culpeper, Essex, King George, King & Queen, King William, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Westmoreland counties.

It is one of 12 Virginia Census offices.

Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com



Read more stories about Fredericksburg
Date published: 1/15/2010



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what part of " One of the shortest forms in history - 10 Questions in 10 Minutes" (posted by larryg , Jan. 16, 2010 5:56 pm)    0 likes
do you anti-govt types not understand? I swear it don't matter anymore what the govt does or does not do - the current crop of zealots is going to accuse it of something. When Obama became President their world was apparently shattered, poor babies.

PID. (posted by 02FirebirdTA , Jan. 15, 2010 11:11 am)    0 likes
Census has already warned people to be careful of releasing personal information to people knocking on doors asking for PID. They are warning against giving ssn, cc info, bank info, or anything specific to you. You tell me. Why does the government need more than they are required to gather by law? Just big brother compiling more data; who knows why they do the things they do.

Be careful of fraudulent people contacting you. (posted by 02FirebirdTA , Jan. 15, 2010 11:03 am)    0 likes
And trying to gather personal information. Also, you do not have to fill out the entire questionnaire. The government is trying to gather more information than it is required to by law. I wonder why?

Which kind of fraud (posted by Guderian , Jan. 15, 2010 9:33 am)    0 likes
and how does giving correct data affect the intended results?

Fill it out (posted by homercles82 , Jan. 15, 2010 8:36 am)    0 likes
and fill it out properly because you have to be worried about the amount of fraud coming this year.

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