Every 10 years, a Census form attempts to count all people living in the United States.  But not everyone is counted correctly.

Census 2020 Matters to Your Business And...Your Help Matters to Census 2020

1. MONEY. The federal government distributes money to communities based on Census numbers.  Want more for our community without paying high fees and taxes? Want your customers to have more disposable income to spend? Want your employees to have fuller lives without eating into their paychecks?

• Every person not counted costs about $1,500 per year.  That money gets sent to other cities in other states.
• We only get this chance every 10 years! We have to live with our count for a long time. We lost $6 million because 1/3 of the population was undercounted on the 2010 Census, which showed a 12% drop in population down to 18,931.

2. QUALITY OF LIFE.  Businesses decide where to open based on population as reported by the Census. Want great new places to eat, shop, and play?

3.  WORKFORCE.   A growing community with great quality of life attracts new residents, which gives businesses a larger workforce pool and more customers!

The City of Lexington has branded the local Census 2020 awareness campaign as #MyCityICount, and is partnering with #TeamUnity, a cross section of community members committed to utilize their local knowledge and expertise to lead this initiative. Please join us to make Census 2020 count for our community!

1. EDUCATE and ENCOURAGE YOUR EMPLOYEES. Team Unity will be working with HR Directors and Managers in local businesses to reach the entire workforce of our community. Help make sure your employees know that it matters, it’s safe, and it’s easy.

2.  SHOW IT OFF! Join City of Lexington workforce in #MyCityICount t-shirt Fridays. It’s a fun way to build unity with a splash of color! Just imagine media coverage if everyone in Lexington is wearing these on Fridays?! To say thanks, the City and Team Unity will share your photos on social media and give major shout-outs to your business for participating!

3.  HELP WITH FORMS.  If folks need assistance, let us help set up the ability to complete their forms correctly.  Just have them bring their census code from home, and we will supply the device. It only takes 10 minutes.

4.  BE A SPONSOR. Team Unity is 100% volunteer, outreach is more effective with marketing and goodies. Help us spread the message by contacting TAGreene@LexingtonNC.gov or ERMichael@LexingtonNC.gov to get involved - 2020 is almost HERE!

To view a copy of these Talking Points in a PDF, click Business Outreach Talking Points.