 Even though the next census count may seem far away, local government officials are starting to prepare for the 2020 census. Today a group gathered at NJPA to hear about who should promote the census and how to best go about it. By starting to plan two years in advance, the state hopes local community groups will get a more accurate count come 2020. Well, what we found when we looked back at the 2010 census is most of the feedback that we got was like, oh, we wish we would have started earlier. We have these great ideas for how we can promote the census. We know it benefits our communities in a number of ways, but we just didn't get going early enough. Other marketing tips and strategies to get a hold of those who are hard to count were also presented at the workshop, along with basic information about why the census is critical for our local communities. The U.S. Census that's taken once every 10 years dictates everything from political boundaries all the way to the amount of money that's given to municipalities and so, or every unit of government. So it's very important to know what the changes are being made and how we can prepare ourselves to be best situated to get an accurate count. The state demographer will hold several other workshops around the state in preparation for the census. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.