Applied Demography Program

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Georgia counties will soon have timely population and employment projections to help them plan more effectively for the future of their communities through the work of the new Applied Demography Program.

The program is a new service of the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. It was established in partnership with the state's Office of Planning and Budget to provide a regularly updated, consistent, and objective set of data useful for state and local government budget planning purposes, reported Warren Brown, director.

"Today's public environment demands that governments of all sizes pay close attention to the future needs and uses of resources. By combining local trends with forecasts of national, state and regional changes, the Applied Demography Program will be able to produce detailed projections of population and employment and deliver them in an expedient, useful manner," Brown said.

Since the best projections are a combination of technical expertise and local knowledge, counties will play a key role in the process. In February, each county will have access to preliminary population and employment projections and will be asked to submit comments on the trends and assumptions noted. The Institute will then publish revised projections by the end of March, along with guidelines on how they can be used in strategic planning. ACCG's Michele NeSmith serves on the Applied Demography Program advisory board.

Brown comes to the Vinson Institute from New York's Cornell University, where he directed the Program on Applied Demographics and was a senior fellow in the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center.

Watch for more information about the benefits of the Applied Demography Program in the February issue of Georgia County Government magazine.