The North Dakota Census 2020 Task Force will be hosting the North Dakota “We’re Counting on You” Census 2020 Workshop on Feb. 3 at Bismarck State College’s Energy Center of Excellence.

The event will provide training for the upcoming census count known as Census Day on April 1. Although Census Day isn’t until April, community leaders are highly encouraged to get prepared now, according to North Dakota Census Office Manager Kevin Iverson.

“The event is intended to provide just-in-time training for community leaders as we shift into high-gear, encouraging all the state’s residents to be counted in Census 2020,” Iverson said.

The workshop will review marketing for the public that will be counted ahead of the census, the plans for count operations, including the counting of individuals in group quarters, the homeless and door-to-door enumeration of non-responding householders.

Representatives from various communities have been invited to present best practices in encouraging civic participation in the census. The event will conclude with a training session on how to identify hard-to-count individuals and ways to encourage their participation.

“Complete census counts are imperative to ensure communities receive appropriate federal funding,” Iverson said. “A single person missed in the Census 2020 hurts local communities for the entire decade with an estimated loss of $19,100 per person.”

Gov. Doug Burgum appointed task force leaders across the state to ensure every North Dakotan is counted in Census 2020. Consisting of two co-chair leaders and six subcommittees led by community leaders, the task force will promote and encourage participation in every area of the state. In addition to their areas, subcommittees will focus on several unique populations: Bakken region workers, Native Americans, retirees, military members, college students and immigrants.

Individuals interested in attending the event should visit ndcensus2020.com for more information.