Hello: We have just gone through a lengthy process of getting access to unemployment data. In the past, we had actual employee records, but we were told that the new 911 laws prohibited the release of that data. We requested unemployment records as a second approach. I am still waiting for release of the data as it is being processed. It took over a year here in Louisiana to work through a series of issues. We were the only traffic modeler making that request. The issue that we had was that the location of the business is not always listed; but rather a third party that processes unemployment claims for that particular business. Also, we have the issue of the mailing address as the location address and that address as being listed as a PO box. Because the data is proprietary and confidential, I had to request and pay for the data (about $3500 for a six (country) parish area. I will have to evaluate the issues listed above to determine if the data set is usuable. We hope this helps your planning efforts. Mike LeBlanc, AICP<http://www.planning.org/AICP/> Planning Manager, Special Projects Division Rosa Parks Transportation Center Lafayette Consolidated Government Department of Traffic and Transportation P.O. Box 4017-C 101 East Cypress Street Lafayette, LA 70502 Ph: 337-291-7179 Fx: 337-291-8458 Planning for the 21st Century<http://www.lafayettelinc.net/> From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Patty Becker Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 2:55 PM To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net Subject: Re: [CTPP] Proprietary Employer Data -- Comments on the various providers? Tim, Have you considered using the state UA system's employer file? That's what SEMCOG uses here in southeast Michigan. They used be be called ES-202 files, but the name may have changed. You'd have to do the geocoding yourself, of course, but that should be do-able. Supposedly those files are establishment based, and I'd think that in MA they would at least be broken down to municipality since county doesn't mean much there. It's definitely worth looking into. Patty Becker At 03:15 PM 6/28/2011, you wrote: Content-Language: en-US Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="_004_7A162EBB5533B64089B6065D4D0C925C1344475340MailVM1admapc_"; type="multipart/alternative" I have managed to assemble some funding to acquire employer data for our 164-municipality transportation modeling region in Eastern MA, and I am wondering if any of you have comments on the accuracy and utility of the various proprietary employer data sources currently available. I have been in conversations with two major providers (InfoGroup and Dun & Bradstreet) and have received sample files for certain zip codes, but it is hard to assess the accuracy or completeness of either sample. I'm wondering if anybody can offer insight on working with such data, and whether you have suggestions on choosing a vendor. We will be using it primarily to determine employment by sector at very fine geographies (250m or 1km grid cells) for land use planning and analysis. Some concerns we have already identified include: branch vs. headquarters employment, public sector employment, "paper companies" and verification, and the accuracy of the goecoded location that accompanies each record. Any thoughts are appreciated. Feel free to reply off-list if concerned about publicly trumpeting or bashing somebody's product. Thanks, Tim Reardon ___________________________________________ Timothy G. Reardon -- Senior Regional Planner Metropolitan Area Planning Council 60 Temple Place | Boston, MA 02111 617-451-2770 x2011 treardon@mapc.org<mailto:treardon@mapc.org> [cid:image001.jpg@01CC3647.E8040FE0] Say it with a map! Find data and bring it alive at www.MetroBostonDataCommon.org<www.MetroBostonDataCommon.htm> ! ________________________________ Please be advised that the Massachusetts Secretary of State considers e-mail to be a public record, and therefore subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, M.G.L. c. 66 § 10. _______________________________________________ ctpp-news mailing list ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patricia C. (Patty) Becker 248/354-6520 APB Associates/SEMCC FAX 248/354-6645 28300 Franklin Road Home 248/355-2428 Southfield, MI 48034 pbecker(a)umich.edu Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any receipt and/or response to this email may be considered a PUBLIC RECORD. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, or distribution is prohibited. Lafayette Parish Consolidated Government 705 W. University Avenue Lafayette, LA 70506 http://www.lafayettela.gov