FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                  WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2003

                                
Mike Bergman                                                    CB03-09
Public Information Office
(301) 763-3030/457-3670 (fax)
(301) 457-1037 (TDD)
e-mail: pio@census.gov                            Quotes and radio sound bites

Easier, Faster, Smarter

         Census Bureau Emphasizes Electronic Reporting
                    in 2002 Economic Census
 
  American businesses that received 2002 Economic Census forms in December
for the first time can file their information electronically, according to
the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. Responses are due by Feb. 12.
Businesses that received a form are required by law (Title 13, U.S. Code)
to respond.

  "Allowing businesses to extract data from their own spreadsheets and
drop them into electronic questionnaires is a major breakthrough," said
Charles Louis Kincannon, director of the Census Bureau. "It demonstrates
the Census Bureau's commitment to e-government and translates into less of
a reporting burden for business."

  Businesses that want to try electronic reporting may obtain information
from the Census Bureau help site. Using information they received with their 
paper form in December, they may download a Windows -based electronic 
questionnaire tailored to their business type. Businesses may complete the 
electronic forms on their own computers, at their own pace, and file the 
form on a secure Internet site or mail a diskette to the Census Bureau.
  
  The real payoff comes for firms with dozens or even hundreds of
locations. Instead of having to complete a separate form for each
establishment, businesses may import information from company spreadsheets
right into the economic census software. "Electronic reporting can
significantly lower the reporting costs incurred by some of our largest
and most important businesses," says Tom Mesenbourg, assistant director of
the Census Bureau. "It saves us time and money as well."

  In addition to accepting electronic reporting, the Census Bureau's help
site offers answers to questions businesses ask most often and provides
other services such as verification that their report was received.
Complementing the online help site is a toll-free help line [(800)
233-6136], answered by Census Bureau employees from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST,
Monday through Friday.

  Taken every five years, the economic census is the benchmark for
measuring 96 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. Federal
Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan has called it "indispensable to
understanding America's economy."

  In addition to the Federal Reserve and other federal agencies, state and
local officials use economic census data to design programs that promote
business development. The private sector uses the data for activities such
as developing business plans, calculating market shares and evaluating new
business opportunities.

  Data on 1,000 industries will be processed during 2003, with the first
results expected in early 2004. The economic census will yield more than
1,600 reports and data products for states, counties, places and ZIP
codes. Data are published on the Census Bureau's Internet site.