U.S. Census Bureau opens in Houma today

The U.S. Census Bureau will open a Houma office today at 7014 Park Ave. beginning at 10 a.m. The office will offer up about 2,000 well-paying jobs for residents in Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes.

Recruiting and testing will not take place during the event. However, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and a video titled “2010 Census: A New Portrait of America.”

Opening of the local office will mark the beginning of preparations for recruiting efforts geared at getting an accurate count of all residents in the upcoming 2010 census, said a press release issued by the Dallas Regional Census Center.

Census forms will be mailed out to households in March 2010. Census takers will be sent to households that do not return a form by April. Visiting houses could take four months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s website.

Numbers gathered from the census are important in determining how district lines are drawn nationwide. They are also used to determine the amount of federal assistance communities receive each year, since both are based on population.

Interested applicants can call (866) 861-2010 to schedule a testing date.