The U.S. Census Bureau plans to conduct a new business survey, the Annual Business Survey, which will combine and replace previous Census surveys: the five-year Survey of Business Owners, the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, and the Business R & D and Innovation for Microbusinesses survey. The Census Bureau expects the proposed changes will streamline costs, reduce burden for respondents, and increase data quality. As the replacement to the Survey of Business Owners, the new Annual Business Survey will continue to collect data on the characteristics of employer businesses and their owners, including demographic information. Non-employer businesses and their owners are not in scope for the Annual Business Survey, and Census Bureau is exploring a new approach to produce non-employer demographic data by leveraging existing government administrative records.
Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Census Bureau has submitted the survey proposal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review. Written comments and recommendations for the proposed survey should be sent by February 4th to OIRA_Submission@omb.eop.gov or fax to 202-395-5806.
- For Census Bureau’s notice of submission for OMB review and comment request, please go to: https://www.
federalregister.gov/documents/ 2017/12/28/2017-28012/ submission-for-omb-review- comment-request. - To view the OMB submission, please go to: https://www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr= 201712-0607-001. - Census Bureau’s survey proposal can be accessed here: https://www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/DownloadDocument? objectID=79018100. - Advocacy Contact: Patrick Delehanty, Acting Director of Economic Research, patrick.delehanty@sba.gov.