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“In-person outreach for the Small Business Census has now begun. Please reach out to us at [email protected] or the contact information listed below with any questions about a visit or leave-behind card you receive from a member of our team.”

Are you the owner of a small business headquartered in Washington, DC? We want to hear from you!

The Government of the District of Columbia is conducting a census of DC-headquartered small businesses to better understand who makes up our small business community and ensure that DC is a place where small business owners of all backgrounds can thrive.

The census asks questions about the business’s size, locations, and ownership demographics, and should only take 3 – 5 minutes of business owners’ time. Business owners may receive a call or a visit from a member of the Small Business Census team between April and the end of the summer of 2024, and may participate in the census in English, Spanish, Amharic, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Korean.

For questions about the Small Business Census, or whether the call or visit a business has received represents a real member of the Small Business Census team, reach out to a member of the project team below or at [email protected].

Hannah Eli
Data Officer
Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
District of Columbia
(t) 202-568-2437; (e) [email protected]

Betsy Sava
Project Manager
BBC Research & Consulting
(t) 303-321-2547; (e) [email protected]

About the Small Business Census

The Government of the District of Columbia (the District) has selected BBC Research & Consulting (BBC), as well as Pantera Management Group (Pantera) and Tiber Hudson (Tiber), to conduct a census of small businesses in the District of Columbia. This census, known as the DC Small Business Census, will attempt to contact small businesses to participate in a short survey.

The census will be conducted in two parts via telephone and in-person interviews.

• Davis Research will conduct telephone interviews with local businesses.
• A street team identifying themselves as members of the DC Small Business Census project team will be going door-to-door to local businesses to conduct the census in-person for those businesses who did not fill out the census online or over the phone.
• In-person outreach for the Small Business Census has now begun. If your business is closed when a member of the Small Business Census team visits the address that we have on file, we will leave a leave-behind card with a unique code to enable you to take the survey online. This code may be on the front or back of the leave-behind card. Please see an image of the leave-behind card below. If you receive a leave-behind card that does not look like the leave behind card below, it is not legitimate outreach from the Small Business Census team. Please reach out to us with any questions.”

Next Steps

• Census announcement. Beginning in April 2024, the project team will work in conjunction with small business advocacy organizations to inform the small business community about the census.
• Telephone interviews. Davis Research will contact DC-headquartered small businesses via phone to complete their census entry.
• In-person interviews. A street team identifying themselves as members of the DC Small Business Census project team will be going door-to-door to DC-headquartered small businesses who have not yet participated in the census online or over the phone to conduct the census in person.
• Small Business Census Press Release - May 14, 2024
• Small Business Census Information Session with DSLBD's Inno.ED - Recording 
• Small Business Census Information Session with DSLBD's Inno.ED - Slides