Here come Valley jobs you can count on

Census Bureau to hire hundreds to canvass

STAFF REPORT

The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for a few good men and women — about 500 in Mahoning County and about 300 in Columbiana County.

Clyde Kemp, local Census office manager for the Canton office which handles Mahoning, Columbiana and Stark counties, said the pay ranges from about $12.50 to $15 per hour, depending on the work.

“We need to recruit people who live in the community so that when someone comes to your door doing a door-to-door canvass, it’s someone from your community, maybe even your neighbor,” Kemp said.

Those interested in the work should call the toll-free number (866) 861-2010. They will be asked to key in their five-digit ZIP code and then directed to the Census office that handles that county.

The Census for Trumbull County is being handled out of an office in Painesville, but Trumbull residents may call the same toll-free number.

The Census office will set up a time and place for the caller to take a 30-minute, 28-question test. Test locations are available throughout the counties. The passage rate for the test is high, Kemp said.

“The count is so important for Ohio because of foreclosures and the number of job losses,” he added.

The federal government expects to dole out about $400 billion to states and counties using Census data.

It amounts to about $1,000 per person, Kemp said.

“We want to make sure every single person is counted so that Ohio gets its fair share of the money,” he said.

Besides the funding, the population count also is used in determining each state’s congressional representation. After the 1990 Census and the 2000 Census, Ohio lost one congressional representative each.

“We want to be absolutely certain we don’t lose another seat because the fewer the seats for Ohio, the smaller the voice that Ohio has,” Kemp said.

Early this year, the Census Bureau pushed recruitment for some early work. But this time, the number of workers needed is much higher, Kemp said.

Those who previously passed the test but weren’t called to work will likely be called this time, he said. Those who didn’t pass the test may take it again.

“They can test the test as many times as they want, but they can’t take it more than one time per day,” Kemp added.