Planning and Organizing the U.S. Economic Census

1. Planning and Organizing the U.S. Economic Census C. Harvey Monk, Jr. Associate Director for Economic Programs U.S. Census Bureau Second International Workshop on Economic Census Seoul, Republic of Korea July 6 - 9, 2009

2. Scope & Coverage • Goals • Processes & Milestones Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

3. U.S. Economic Census • Every 5 years for years ending in “2” and “7” • Content development in cooperation with business and government • Response required by law • Covers 27 million businesses, collects data from 4.4 million business locations • FY 2008 is the data collection year • Product release begins in FY 2009 Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

4. Economic Census Scope and Coverage • Economic Census programs • Covers 27 million business locations and 96% of economic activity • 7 million with paid employees • 20 million without paid employees • Data for 1,060 NAICS industries • their inputs: labor, capital, purchased materials & services • what they produce & sell: 8,000 products & 3,500 different merchandise & service lines • who they sell to • where they are located: detailed subnational information Survey of Business Owners Business Expenditures Survey Economic Census of Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa Commodity Flow Survey (BTS partially funds) Minerals Construction Manufactures Wholesale Retail Transp, Comm, Utilities Finance, Insurance, Real Estate Services Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

5. Administrative & Waste Management Services 3 Census Coverage of GDP [Covered by USDA] 11 21 22 1 Agriculture 1 Mining 2 Utilities 5 23 Construction 31-33 42 13 Manufacturing 6 Wholesale Trade 44-45 48-49 7 Retail Trade Transportation & Warehousing 2 51 Information 5 Finance & Insurance 8 52 53 Real Estate & Rental and Leasing 12 Professional, Scientific & Technical Services 7 54 55 Management of Companies & Enterprises 2 56 61 62 1 Educational Services Health Care & Social Assistance 7 Arts, Entertainment & Recreation 1 71 72 Accommodation and Food Services 3 81 2 Other Services 92 12 Government 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Source: www.bea.gov Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

6. Economic Census Costs • 2007 Economic Census costs expected to be $513 million • 60% higher than 2002 costs of $320 million • 2012 Economic Census costs estimated to be $695 million • Higher costs related to expanded content, maintaining response, and inflationary increases associated with staff, postage and contracted services that occur over a 6-year period Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

7. 2007 Economic Census Goals • Provide the Nation with comprehensive and detailed information about the changing structure of the U.S. economy • detailed industry and geographic data • expanded content and coverage • Establish and maintain the statistical foundation for continuing economic analysis by government and business • 3/4 of source data for our National Accounts • benchmarks for composite measures of economic activity • sample frame and benchmark for Census current economic surveys Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

8. 2007 Economic Census Goals (continued) • Extend Economic Census detail and coverage in areas of special National interest • businesses owned by women and minorities • information on commodity movement • expenditures and expenses for service, manufacturing, retail, wholesale and industries • economic census of Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana and American Samoa Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

9. 2007 Economic Census Goals (continued) • Improve timing of response for large companies • Provided improved electronic reporting tools early • Started mailing to large “L” companies in October 2007 • Started visiting 200 L companies in October 2007 to explain census and introduce electronic reporting tools • Improve Response Rates • Targeted additional follow-up activities for single units • Escalated follow-up to reduce non-compliance • Offered electronic reporting to business who receive standard economic census forms Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

10. 2007 Economic Census Goals (continued) • Improve internal efficiency of key operations • Deployed new Business Register interactive routines to improve clerical processing of economic census responses • Consolidated microdata editing systems within a common framework and increase use of editing best practices • Put systems in place early to process census receipts through microdata edit processing (front- and back-end edits) • Improve timeliness of statistical products • Decided to disseminate all data products electronically • Deployed tabulation and analysis systems for industry reports in October 2008 • Replaced custom-coded table composition process with COTS software Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

11. Program Management • 2007 Economic Census program comprised a complex set of interrelated activities carried out over a span of nearly 6 years • Project charters were used to manage and carry out work that entailed substantial development of new systems or substantial revision/redevelopment to existing systems • Project management best practices were used that were consistent with Census Bureau standards and guidelines. These included: • Scalable Methodology for Project Management (commonly known as the “Project Red Book”), • Census Software Process Improvement (CSPI) Program • Economic Programs Directorate’s Project Management Environment. • Additionally, selected IT projects used variations of the Team Software Process (TSP) and the Personal Software Process (PSP) Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

12. 2007 Economic CensusMajor Processes • Direction - $29 million • Content Determination and Design - $45 million • Mail List Development and Mail-out - $39 million • Collection and Processing - $280 million • Publication and Dissemination - $120 million • Total Cost $513 Million Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

13. 2007 Economic Census Milestones 04/07Advance mailing to 15,000 largest companies 09/07-12/07 Preparation and assembly of 4.4 million mailing packages 10/07-03/08 Run first wave of Economic Census promotional materials 11/07 Mail 400,000 forms to 1,200 largest companies 12/09-12/17Mail Economic Census Single Units and remaining Multi Units report forms 09/07 Business Help Site in production 12/10/07Toll-free assistance and Electronic Reporting site goes into production 02/12/08 Economic Census due date 03/08Begin first of 3 form follow ups to delinquents Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

14. 2007 Economic Census Milestones 05/08 Mail first wave (1.2 million) Survey of Business Owners forms 08/08 Special 4th follow up of delinquent large companies 09/08 National Processing Center units complete work 10/08 Complete initial tabulations for all NAICS sectors and begin Head Quarters review 03/09 First Economic Census data product (Advance report) 05/09 Mail second wave (1.2 million) Survey of Business Owners forms 4Q/09 Industry series completed 2Q/11 Final product released Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

15. 2007 Economic CensusLifecycle Process Chart Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

16. Direction • Began 10/2007 and ends 9/2010 • Includes planning and support activities necessary to conduct the census • Provides overall direction and coordination for the planning, design, collection, processing, and dissemination • Economic Planning & Coordination Division is primarily responsible • Over 100 staff work on this full time Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

17. Content Determination/Design • Began 10/2004 and ended 4/2006 • Activities include review of census components • Meeting with stakeholders to assess and determine content • Designing and cognitively testing forms • Printing more than 550 industry specific forms Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

18. Mail List Development & Mail-out • Began 10/2006 and ended 9/2008 • Activities include developing computer specifications, procurement and processing administrative records • Labeling and assembling mailing • 4.4 million business locations mailed forms • 550 different forms tailored to industry groups • sample small businesses • mail “classification forms” to 0.8M small businesses Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

19. Collection and Processing • Began 10/2007 and ended 2/2009 • Includes collection and clerical operations conducted at our National Processing Center including staff training, form check-in, data capture, customer support, follow-up, and data correction • Also includes development, testing, and maintenance of processing systems including electronic reporting option Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

20. Collection Methods • Direct collection • Electronic Reporting • Administrative Records Data Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

21. Direct Collection • Oct ’07 - Large Companies, 800K Classification Forms • Dec 12 ’07 - Mail remainder of 4.7 MM mailout • Feb 12 ’08 Forms due • April 1 ’08 - First form follow-up • May 1 ’08 - Second form follow-up • June 1 ’08 - Third form follow-up • July ’08 - Phone follow-ups begin • August ’08 - Legal letters to single/multi units • Sept ’08 - Remaining legal letters Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

22. Receipts Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

23. Electronic Reporting • Electronic reporting available to 3.6 million businesses can report using 500 different report forms • spreadsheet compatible (export/import) • facilitates and simplifies reporting • secure and encrypted • 2007 Economic Census saw over 25% of the total responses and more than 50% of the large company responses collected electronically • 2012 plans call for an interactive web-based application Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

24. Administrative Records • Extensive use of administrative record data • use IRS data in lieu of direct reporting for • 3.1 million small employers • 20.0 million businesses with no paid employees • employment, payroll & receipts data for Survey of Business Owners sample • use IRS data for editing Economic Census employment, payroll & receipts Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

25. Publication and Dissemination • Began 11/2007 and ends 9/2010 • Activities include all operations related to final table review of tabulated data, development of products, and dissemination of census results • More than 1,700 census products will be developed and delivered electronically via American Fact Finder • Products will profile industries, geographic areas, and special subjects Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

26. 2007 Economic Census Dissemination Schedule Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009

27. Questions ?? Second International Workshop on Economic Census July 6-9, 2009