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On Thursday, Dec.13, the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition (IBIC), the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, World Business Chicago and a few others co-hosted a convening on the 2020 Census efforts with Chicago business leaders. In attendance wereGov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who shared the work that is underway that aims to secure a complete count in Illinois and offer opportunities for collaboration and support.

The IBIC is an organization that promotes and supports sensible immigration reform to ensure the economic recovery of the state of Illinois.

Rebecca Shi, executive director of the IBIC and City of Chicago Complete Count Committee Member, said that all communities all have a stake in ensuring the complete census count, including the business, immigrant communities and communities of color.

Not only does the census determine the allocation of $800 billion in federal resources, [but] it also helps businesses decide where to set up shop and understand the changing face of consumers and informs the flow of almost $4 trillion in private investment annually, said Shi.

Shi thanked Governor Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot for their leadership in making sure there was a vast share of stakeholders in ensuring that communities get counted.

In another statement, Dr. Mohammed Zaher Sahloul, MedGlobal President and Illinois Business Immigration Coalition Co-Chair said that addressing the barriers in hard-to-reach communities in the city, which is comprised of 20 percent of the population, is necessary in order to meet the goal to count 75 percent of the residents.

This requires that all Chicagoans and Illinoisans come together to combat the mistrust and fear of the government prevalent among marginalized communities that [result] in them being undercounted, he added. I believe that business owners and employers have a unique opportunity to lead this work in places of employment by partnering with our elected officials and other community leaders to dispel confusion and misinformation about census data, and spread the message that participating in the census is safe, easy, and vitally important.

Senator Billy Lawless, Senator of the Irish Senate, Chicago Restaurant Owner, and IBICSteering Committee Member said that he knows first-hand the importance of making sure every person gets counted in the census.

Businesses like mine use census data to make operational and marketing decisions, and politicians use the data to help direct billions of dollars in federal aid and draw legislative districts. I am happy that the leadership in Illinois is taking this seriously and committed to making sure that every person is counted no matter their country of origin, job title, income, or any other superficial factor.

The convening also included remarks from Cook County Commissioner Stanely Moore, 4th District, and Chairman of the Cook County Census Commission; Alderman Ariel Reboyras, 30th Ward, and Chair of the Special Legislative Committee on the Census; Marilyn Sanders, Regional Director of the U.S. Census Bureau; Michael Fassnacht, President and CEO of FCB Chicago; and Andy Zopp, President and CEO of World Business Chicago.

For information and help with the census, you can visit the Census Bureaus websitewww.census.gov.

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The Illinois Business Immigration Coalition co-hosts a Census 2020 convening - The Gate News