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One look at the backgrounds of those overseeing the new census in the area, though, and it becomes clear how that success was achieved.
Carl Statham, manager for the Beaufort regional census office, spent 30 years in the auto industry, most of it as the owner and operator of auto dealerships in the Midwest. He was named one of Black Enterprise magazine's top 100 black businessmen for three consecutive years in the 1980s.
Paul Shepherd, a census partnership specialist for the region, holds a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Maryland and has directed or served on the board of several Beaufort Countynonprofit organizations, most recently the Kiwanis Club.
Statham and Shepherd are representative of two trends that, according to Terry Plumb, census media relations coordinator, lured exceptionally qualified individuals to positions in the Lowcountry and helped improve the response rate.
The first trend was the number of local retirees employed by the Beaufort census office who Plumb said brought professional and managerial experience.
Managing auto dealerships was good preparation foroverseeing the many employees under his control, Statham said.
In the most recent phase of the census, Statham directed 1,300 workers spread over eight counties. South Carolina was the first state to complete that operation, which sent workers door-to-door seekingthose who had not yet turned in their forms.
Each phase of the census presents new challenges, he said. But once he masters the latest task, the work is as easy as closing a car sale on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
"It's the same amount of enthusiasm and adrenaline flowing," he said.
Though he retired in 2005, Statham, 59, said his work ethic has kept him from slowing down. Since moving to Bluffton in 2007, he has maintained a steady balance of golf and part-time work for local businesses.
"I like to be in the game, I like the challenge," he said. "What I'm doing now is totally different from what I've done for the last 30 years, and that's what makes it so intriguing."
The second trend Plumb cited is the sluggish economy, which made people with attractive credentials available for census work.
That was the case with Shepherd, 61, who was working as an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina Beaufort when he was hired last year by the census.
As a census partnership specialist, Shepherd built relationships with high-profile businesses and institutions in the area that could get the word out about returning census forms.
Having spent 13 years embedded in the local nonprofit and philanthropic communities, many of those relationships were already in place.
"I enjoy interacting with public officials, interacting with churches and schools," he said, "so it fit my personality well."
Statham and Shepherd both praised the keen interest Lowcountry residents took in the census as the factor that ultimately influenced the area's success.
"They really get it," Statham said. "Our job was made easier because they really understand what's at risk here, and they want South Carolina to be recognized."
