A unique collaboration in Maine has successfully incubated a creative solution to a vexing national problem: bringing affordable, privately owned and operated, community-centric child care to populations that have lacked reliable options. The more child care entrepreneurs we can educate and advise, the more high-quality, affordable child care slots will be available now and for the long-term. Through the CEI Child Care Business Lab we are teaching business skills that will enable new entrepreneurs to sustain financially viable businesses, creating good jobs for themselves and others. New child care slots will result in more opportunities for parents to return to school to gain skills and credentials values by employers and/or work full-time to support their families and contribute to the economy. The Child Care Business Lab model brings access to affordable, high-quality child care, which is critical to economic success, especially in rural counties and urban immigrant hubs, where poverty and unemployment rates exceed the statewide averages.
In this session hear how a community development pioneer developed the Lab model with community input. Meet a second-generation migrant farm worker who started a culturally attuned child care after completing the Lab. See how a combination of philanthropic grants underwrite the curriculum and loan capital helps new entrepreneurs acquire real estate, custom equipment, and steady cash flow to get their start up child care businesses off and running.
