Local Uses of Census Detailed : Population: Director says statistics are more than a national head count. They can empower neighborhood groups.

Speaking in Los Angeles for the first time since the 1990 census results were released, U.S. Census Bureau Director Barbara E. Bryant told African-American business and community leaders Thursday that the census is more than a national head count--it can be a source of power.

Bryant spoke during a conference at the Wave Newspapers in Southwest Los Angeles attended by more than 100 community residents, business representatives and members of nonprofit groups. They were told how the census materials can be used by community organizations to provide better services and by businesses seeking to reach minority populations.

“These figures are not only important for counting people by race and ethnic group, but . . . can be used to empower groups,” Bryant said. “We are going to see much more use of census material on the neighborhood and community level.”

According to the 1990 census, the African-American population in California has grown by 21.4%, from 1.8 million to 2.2 million, with Riverside and San Bernardino counties experiencing the fastest growth, Bryant said. The largest concentrations of blacks are in Los Angeles, Oakland and San Diego.

Today’s census information, she said, is more accessible to neighborhood organizations and businesses because of the widespread use of personal computers. At a relatively low cost, she said, local population trends from the 1990 census can be made available on computer disks.

“For example, if a neighborhood church wants to run a preschool and wants to find out how many children, or single mothers, or what the average income is in its parish, that information can be obtained,” she said.

Community groups may also want to have a greater say in how the political boundaries are redrawn “rather than relying on the Republicans or Democrats to do it for them,” she said.

Adrian Dove, a spokesman for Western Economic Research Co., said there has been a dramatic shift in the black population in Los Angeles over the last 10 years, with many families moving from the South-Central area to the southwest communities of Inglewood, Torrance, Carson and Culver City.

As a result, black politicians will not be able to rely on the solid base of ethnic support in the central city, which is becoming more Latino.

“There has been a thinning out of the central core which made up the bulk of the black population,” said Dove, a former assistant regional director for the census, who now works for Western, a demographic research company. “Politicians will have to show a greater willingness to serve different kinds of communities.”

“Census data can be used by nonprofit organizations who want to know how to better target services to people,” said Loretta Randle, director of United Way’s Kellogg Training Center, which works with nonprofit organizations.

Census material is also used by corporations seeking markets in minority areas.

“It helps us to understand the black and Hispanic consumer markets,” said Bentley, community relations manager for Nestle U.S.A. “We are developing strategies for marketing products in minority areas and there have been significant amount of growth in the black and especially the Hispanic communities.”