Kenneth Boswell, director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), addressed the Birmingham Business Alliance's Governmental Affairs Committee recently about how important the 2020 Census is to both Birmingham and Alabama.

Filling out the Census next spring only takes five minutes, but its impact will be felt for the next 10 years both locally in Birmingham and statewide.

That's according to Kenneth Boswell, director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), who addressed the Birmingham Business Alliance's Governmental Affairs Committee recently. Boswell discussed the work of his office and the Alabama Counts! grassroots and strategic campaigns ADECA is implementing to educate Alabamians about the upcoming 2020 Census.

The impact of the Census, which takes place every 10 years, is enormous, Boswell said. A recent study by George Washington University found that for each Alabama resident counted in the Census, nearly $1,600 was returned from the federal government to the state for programs, including Medicaid, Head Start and highway construction, amounting to more than $13 billion across 55 programs. Without adequate federal funding to cover these programs, other funding may have to be raised to make up the gap, or programs could run the risk of elimination.

Also, if Alabamians don’t participate in the 2020 Census, the state runs the risk of losing a Congressional seat because seats in the House of Representatives are determined by population, Boswell said.

“Without representatives, we [Alabama] won’t get heard,” he said. “Another state will get that representative, and they’ll get heard [in Congress]. Who knows what programs will be cut, defunded or lessened?”

In March 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau will send every household an invitation to respond to the 2020 Census. In addition to being able to take the Census by phone or on paper, in 2020 there will be new options for completing the Census online using a computer, smartphone or tablet. Census Day is April 1 this year, the target date for all Americans to submit their information.

Groups like Alabama Counts! and the City of Birmingham Complete Count Committee are working to make sure all residents of Birmingham and Alabama participate in the Census, and the Birmingham business community can help get the word out too, Boswell said. He suggested including information about the Census in company publications like newsletters and company-wide emails, hosting a seminar about the importance of the Census or adding information about it in a staff meeting – anything to get the word out, he said.

“This is a challenge – a very important challenge,” Boswell said. “We hope everyone will take it very seriously and ask all of their neighbors and friends to take it very seriously.”