Request for Fast Track Approval

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Economic Surveys Roundtable Discussions

PURPOSE: The Census Bureau’s mission is built around large-scale surveys and censuses. Obtaining responses are essential to ensure accurate, reliable, and comprehensive data which we in turn provide back to the public for free. In an effort to promote response and build awareness for these surveys and censuses, we developed a campaign for the 2017 Economic Census. Part of this campaign included a roadshow which enabled us to travel to target market areas and establish relationships with organizations who serve as trusted voices in their communities. Such organizations include Chambers of Commerce, Small Business Development Centers, and others with networks of business memberships. This effort successfully built partnerships and lines of communication between local business communities and Census Bureau staff and gave us the opportunity to deliver our message directly and in person. To leverage this success, we have made it our current objective to build and maintain these relationships to promote response to all economic surveys. Part of this objective includes conducting business roundtable discussions in key markets to discuss census economic surveys, highlight the value of resulting data, and promote response. Raising general awareness will benefit current surveys, strengthen the relationships established during the 2017 campaign, and lay the groundwork for the 2022 Economic Census.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: We plan to conduct a maximum of 10 roundtable discussions, consisting of a maximum of 9 participants, for a total maximum of 90 participants. We plan to conduct interviews with a variety of sizes and types (i.e., industries) of businesses. This number of participants was selected because it is a manageable number for the time period allotted, it should adequately cover target companies, and should be large enough to provide reactions to the questions in order to identify meaningful findings. We plan on leveraging our established relationships with local intermediaries and Census Bureau regional offices to recruit local business leaders and to also host the sessions. The knowledge and familiarity of their respective areas will ensure satisfactory attendance. We will ask these groups to identify business representatives that they feel adequately represent our recruiting criteria. We ask that each participant to have received an economic census or survey.

We plan to include as many as nine participants per roundtable discussion, all of whom represent local businesses. Some participants may have received economic survey forms from the Census Bureau in the past. Time and availability permitting, as many as two (2) may be conducted in the same area.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[ ] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [X ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public as official statistics, but may be presented at research or methodology conferences to inform ongoing research.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Rebecca E. Vilky

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X ] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published?

[ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [X ] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Small Business-9 participants per roundtable discussion (10 roundtable discussions)	9 (9x10)=90	90 minutes per participants	135 hours
Totals	90	90	135 hours

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government are travel costs and staff time. No costs are incurred to conduct the roundtable discussions.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [X ] Yes [ ] No

All roundtable discussions will be conducted in-person in the area of the target market.

Grafik Marketing will moderate each session with support from Census Bureau staff. Discussions will include instructions for participants on meeting structure and guidelines for maintaining confidentiality.

We plan to conduct a maximum of 10 roundtable discussions, consisting of a maximum of 9 participants, for a total maximum of 90 participants. We plan to conduct interviews with a variety of sizes and types (i.e., industries) of businesses. This number of participants was selected because it is a manageable number for the time period allotted, it should adequately cover target companies, and should be large enough to provide reactions to the questions in order to identify meaningful findings. We plan to leverage our established relationships with local intermediaries and Census Bureau regional offices to recruit local business leaders and to host the sessions. The knowledge and familiarity of their respective areas will ensure satisfactory attendance. We will ask these groups to identify business representatives that they feel adequately represent our recruiting criteria. We ask that each participant to have received an economic census or survey.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ ] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[x ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X ] Yes [ ] No

Please submit all instruments, instructions, correspondences (emails, letters, etc.) to respondents, and scripts as separate documents along with this request document.

Every instrument must have the following displayed –

OMB Control No. 0690-0030

Expiration Date: 7/30/20