2010 Census call center in Sandy bringing jobs to Utah

SANDY — About four months ago, Israel Chavez was laid off from his supervisory position in the financial services sector and left with no way to support his wife and three children.

For the growing Midvale family, a lifeline came in the form of a constitutional requirement that all residents be counted once a decade.

Chavez was hired to work at the nation's biggest 2010 Census call center, which held a ground-breaking ceremony to great fanfare Wednesday morning. More than 1,500 temporary jobs are being created.

The effort to count every man, woman and child is being called the largest nonmilitary mobilization in U.S. history.

In Sandy and at two other Utah call centers, the jobs start at around $11 an hour and will last through August.

"I knew it was of a temporary nature, but it provided my family with what I need," Chavez said with a friendly smile.

Already the census call center has snatched up several laborers from the ranks of the unemployed. Managed by Vangent Inc., the center is recruiting through its Web site, vangent.com, and through local staffing agencies and schools. About 40 percent of the jobs will be part time.

"Particularly in this economy, to have several thousand jobs is incredible," said Sandy deputy mayor John Hiskey. "Having a strong work force speaks well to our future."

For the first few months, census representatives will answer questions about the census and enter data. Later, they will make outbound calls to clear up discrepancies reported in the 10-question forms to be mailed to every American home. The "short forms" will go out in mid-March and will be due April 1.

"Our performance can't be anything less than excellent," said Craig Janus, Vangent's senior vice president.

Janus called the census "an essential element of democracy in this country."

Locally, the 2010 Census will be especially critical because Utah could get a fourth seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The total number of representatives is locked at 435, so if Utah comes out on top, another area of the country would lose representation, said U.S. Census Bureau deputy chief Thomas Messenbourg.

The census must report its findings to the president by December. Its next deadline is in March, when figures will be given to states for the redrawing of districts.

"The decisions that could be made based on this data could have a pretty profound effect on local communities," said Steve Brandt, operations lead for all 11 centers in the country. "It's a big job, but I also think we've done the right things. I'm confident we'll be able to deliver for the government."

2010 Census

The Sandy Call Center at 8475 S. Sandy Parkway is expected to help with 8 million incoming calls to the 2010 Census offices. In all, 134 million homes will be counted. Workers will speak English, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese and Korean.

e-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com