A first of its kind conference in North Dakota.
The state department of Commerce, UND and NDSU are sponsoring a “demographics conference,” to be held in Bismarck Wednesday. Kevin Iverson is the manager of the Commerce Department’s census office. He says North Dakota’s population is changing – and growing.
"In fact, we've been growing faster than any other state," Iverson said. He said that growth is coming especially in people ages 20 to 34.
"That particular age group has grown immensely," said Iverson. "It's considerably larger in North Dakota than the baby boom population."
Iverson says the purpose of the conference is two-fold – one, to understand the state’s demography. And he says the second is how businesses and governments can use that data in decision making.
"Demographic data is used in so many applications, whether it's metropolitan planning or health planning, of if you're an entrepreneur and planning to open a business in an area," Iverson said. "We're really trying to emphasize where the data is and how to access some of that data."
Iverson says representatives of the US Census Bureau will also be at the day-long conference to talk about the upcoming 2020 Census.