A new census office opening in New Haven is bringing in new jobs for the locals. "People counting in the community need to be familiar with their neighborhood," says Kathleen Ludgate, the Census Bureau’s Regional Director.
The bureau hired 5,000 to 7,000 people temporarily to hand count difficult to reach residents of Connecticut. The jobs are a blessing for small business owner George Roebuck of New Haven, "in the hard eco times it’s great to have a steady income even if its just for a short period of time," he says. "That’s one of the benefits of being able to work. The opportunity and the pay is good."
The new hires will go door to door and everyone is stationed out of one of seven offices around the state, including one in New Haven.
A ribbon cutting ceremony Monday marked the beginning of the census count, a count that does more than just keep a record of how many people live in the state.
"This is also critical for the economic future of our state because the more people that are counted here the more federal funding that we'll receive for economic development and transportation and other job related projects," says CT Secretary of State, Susan Bysiewicz.
And while thousands will work for the Census Bureau during the count, many more could benefit from the federal money headed our way after the numbers are in. "The info is critical as you heard here today for funds distribution for critical programs like funding for public transportation, healthcare, for elder services, for daycare, for students," explains Lugdate.
The census questionnaires go out between February and March 2010. By May workers will head out and start knocking on the doors of people who haven’t responded.
