Nebraska Data Users Conference

The 2020 Census is underway! This session will provide a 2020 Census overview to include adjustments made to conducting a decennial count during a major challenge like a pandemic. Examples will be provided on how the Nebraska partnership team and census partners are strategically using the self-response map to develop initiatives for increasing self-response. Information will be provided on what lies ahead and what you can do to boost self-response in your community.

Blanca Ramirez-Salazar   2020 Census partnership coordinator | Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota   U.S. Census Bureau

Blanca connects local organizations to the resources of the Bureau to help conduct all the various aspects of the challenging task to count everyone once and in the right place. She was also a partnership specialist for Nebraska in the 2010 Census, when she conducted outreach throughout the state with Hispanic communities. She has 15 years of experience in state and federal government in EEO advocacy as well as public health planning with tribal communities and minority populations including immigrants and refugees.

The Census Bureau is rethinking the way it will produce and release the data from 2020 Census. There are concerns that personal information could be discovered given current computing power, other data sources, and Census 2020 results. Currently the Bureau is working to balance data privacy with high quality data products. This presentation will present the basics of the Disclosure Avoidance System including applying differential privacy and its impacts on data quality, what the data user community needs to know, and how to be prepared. The session will focus on 2020 data products with a special emphasis on the redistricting dataset, the release schedule, and how to access the new figures.

James Whitehorne   chief | Census Redistricting & Voting Rights Data Office   U.S. Census Bureau

James manages the Redistricting Data Program and the Section 203 language determinations required by the Voting Rights Act. He began his career at the U.S. Census Bureau as a geographer in the Geography Division working and eventually leading the effort on the geographic support to the redistricting data program as well as the statistical areas program, which includes census tracts and block groups. Before joining the Bureau in 2006, James worked on contract for five years at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, as a GIS specialist.

Elizabeth Garner   state demographer   Colorado Department of Local Affairs

Elizabeth leads the State Demography Office, which produces population and economic estimates and forecasts for use by state agencies and local governments. She has over 25 years of experience analyzing population and economic trends in the state and her current areas of research include aging in Colorado, characteristics of migration, and poverty.

Nebraska’s population is changing. This session will focus on key demographic aspects, such as aging, increasing diversity, and comparisons between urban and rural Nebraska. Highlights will include information from the population estimates program, which shows changes since 2010 and what the 2020 Census data might indicate, as well as a focus on birth and death trends from the completed 2010s decade and their implications for schools or the workforce.

David Drozd   research coordianator   UNO Center for Public Affairs Research

David is a specialist in data retrieval and analysis and is often quoted in the media. He works with Nebraska population information and the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) data extensively. He aids the discussion of Nebraska’s changing demographics. He has been in his current role for 17 years.

While some of the Census Bureau's 130+ programs have been around for decades, the ever-changing nature of our economy often requires the creation of new surveys. This presentation will start with an update on the Economic Census data for Nebraska. Then move to three brand new Census business surveys: the Annual Business Survey, the Small Business Pulse Survey, and the updated Business Formation Statistics. Easily accessing these data is important, so the session will feature live demos of the latest version of Census Business Builder as well as the new COVID-19 Data Hub. Bring your burning economic data questions to stump Andy, who has more than 30 years of service at the Census Bureau.

Andy Hait   data product and data user liaison | Economic Management Division   U.S. Census Bureau

Andy advises on economic data products and conducts data user trainings and outreach for the Economic Census and the Census Bureau’s other monthly, quarterly, and annual economic survey programs. He also is the lead designer and coordinates development of Census Business Builder, an innovative data tool that presents selected demographic, business, and other data in a user-friendly, map-based interface.

This panel will focus on tools and resources for examining state and local government finances and economic conditions. We will emphasize tools that are easily manageable and resources easily accessible. These data sources include but are not exclusively available via the U.S. Census Bureau.

Craig Maher, Ph.D.   chair and professor of public budgeting and finance | UNO School of Public Administration   director | Nebraska State and Local Finance Lab

Craig teaches graduate-level courses in public budgeting, financial management, research methods and capstone. He is widely published in the field of public budgeting and finance. His latest work is on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on local government finances. He was elected and reelected to the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, City Council in 2004 and 2008.

Bruce D. McDonald, III, Ph.D.   associate professor of public budgeting and finance | director of the Municipal Research Lab   North Carolina State University Department of Public Administration

Bruce serves as co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Affairs Education, general editor for the Routledge Public Affairs Education book series, and cohost of the Academics of Public Administration podcast. His research focuses on issues of fiscal health and local governance.

Chris Decker, Ph.D.   chair and professor   UNO Department of Economics

Chris teaches courses in microeconomics, business economics, economic forecasting, and natural resource economics. He partners with several organizations to conduct economic assessments and forecasts of city and regional economies, including the production of a large number of economic impact studies using IMPLAN. Other studies have included assessing the economic impact of immigrant populations on the local economy. Chris has been closely monitoring how unemployment in Nebraska has increased as an effect of COVID.

Moderator: Josie Schafer, Ph.D.   director   UNO Center for Public Affairs Research

Josie’s research examines the sources and types of information gathered and applied in administrative and public policy decisions. Her research has appeared in several academic journals. Since joining UNO Center for Public Affairs Resarch she has led several large grant and contract projects on public policy issues in Nebraska, including projects with the Planning Committee of the Nebraska State Legislature, the Nebraska Department of Transportation, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and several local nonprofits.

As the state of Nebraska moves forward to reopen after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, more information is needed to assess the extent to which COVID-19 has affected minority groups. This presentation evaluates the data released by the state on the cases of COVID-19 and deaths from the virus, how often it is updated, and how it can be improved to inform policy decisions to reduce the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color in Nebraska, which is one of the states with the highest health disparities in COVID-19 cases among racial groups.

Barbara Gomez Aguinaga, Ph.D.   assistant professor of public policy and social equity   UNO School of Public Administration

Barbara's research examines the ways in which race, politics and media impact the public policy-making process in the United States. Her current research projects examine the outcomes of health, immigration and criminal justice policies on communities of color.

Interactive breakout sessions describing your data use/career with challenges/solutions. Attendees will be shuffled into new breakout rooms every 20 minutes.