In a decision that will bring 2,000 temporary jobs to Maryland, the U.S. Census Bureau has chosen a Baltimore County site as one of four locations in the country that will house information centers for the year 2000 census.
The jobs, which will last for about two years, will be targeted at the economically and socially disadvantaged.
The choice of the Rosedale location marks the second consecutive time that an information center for the 10-year census has been placed in Maryland. The 1990 census operated a center in East Baltimore.
"It's good news," said James D. Fielder Jr. acting secretary for Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. "Even if the jobs are of short duration, the skill base will be improved. Those employees become more marketable."
Fielder said his office had been working for more than a year to bring the census jobs to the state. The other sites chosen were: Phoenix; Pomona, Calif.; and a permanent Census Bureau site in Jeffersonville, Ind. Locally, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City also proposed sites.
The four information centers will help the Census Bureau collect and process about 1 billion pages of census questionnaires, mailed to more than 100 million addresses.
The two-year census project will be managed by TRW Systems and Information Technology Group.
In Rosedale, TRW plans to make $7 million in improvements to the 200,000 square feet of space it is leasing at the Marshfield Business Center on Kelso Drive, which is in an enterprise zone in eastern Baltimore County.
The center is to open Nov. 1, and will remain open two to three years, according to Baltimore County Economic Development Director Robert L. Hannon.
After the census operation is done, the building would be used for warehouse distribution.
The census project will require up to 2,000 workers in Maryland, split between two shifts per day of 900 to 1,000 employees. About 1,500 of the jobs will be full-time temporary positions.
Substantial impact
"I think the economic impact will be significant and substantial, especially when you take into consideration that it provides jobs to the people who need them most," said Walinda West, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
Her office was unable to provide an estimate of the economic impact to the state.
