The Wisconsin Economic Development Institute estimates the long-term economic impact of the state’s child care crisis between $4.2 and $6.4 billion. Against that backdrop, community and manufacturing leaders convened May 25 in Green Bay as the NEW Manufacturing Alliance hosted its first-ever “Future of Work Summit” on the critical topic.
The program was presented in collaboration with the Greater Fox Valley Child Care Alliance, a group of community and child care leaders convened by the Basic Needs Giving Partnership that has been working on the issue since August 2020. The central component of the alliance’s message: With workers currently making between $11-$13 an hour and families with one infant spending 20% of their annual household income on child care, we’re dealing with a broken model that has ripple effects in the business community.
“Our child care business model is broken,” said Tina Crave, president and CEO of the Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation, who attended the event to speak about efforts underway just outside of the region in Dodge and Jefferson counties. “I am going to use a ship analogy; I think we have a sinking ship in terms of the way the industry has run; it’s not sustainable. I have been invited here today to … talk about some of the cool things we’re doing, but those are lifeboats. And we as business leaders need to determine how much we want to put into lifeboats versus determining if the ship’s worth fixing.”
It starts with improving the pay of the child care workforce and incentivizing more people to enter the profession, said Basic Needs Giving Partnership Executive Director Lynn Coriano, who noted that 90% of brain development occurs in a person’s first five years of life and that every dollar invested in early childhood education returns $13.
Because this time in a child’s life is so vital, it’s imperative that communities change their attitudes toward the early childhood education (ECE) industry, added Missy Schmeling, executive director of Encompass Early Education & Care, who spoke alongside Oconto County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Jayme Sellen about Encompass’ forthcoming expansion into Oconto Falls. Sellen says that while the state of Wisconsin has one opening for every three kids in need of care, that latter number is five or more in Oconto County. The county’s child care desert has been one of the central challenges of her job.
“We were very fortunate to find one building in all of Oconto County that would meet Encompass’ needs, and those building owners were also champions of child care and greatly reduced the cost of that building. So we’re very thankful for all the partnerships,” Sellen said. “This is the only way we’re going to get this done in Oconto County, is to have strong relationships.”
In Manitowoc County, Progress Lakeshore Executive Director Jamie Zastrow said the community received a Dream Up! grant from the state for executing a four-pronged ECE plan aimed at boosting interest in the profession through academic scholarships and signing bonuses; engaging entrepreneurial-minded providers in creating in-home startups; providing peer-to-peer networking and workshop opportunities; and looking to present an early childhood education model for employers focused on providing ECE as an employee benefit.
“We understand that barriers to employment need to be addressed where they can; we really need all hands on deck,” Zastrow said. She added that a recent survey found that 58% of county residents who were not employed but willing to work said child care was the main barrier.
Ryan Brown, Waupaca County’s planning and zoning director, said his county and the city are also working on projects using Dream Up! grant funds. He said the county’s child care providers told him priority No. 1 has to be “stop the bleed” of workers leaving the industry.
“The biggest thing we heard from providers was really retaining the people that they had,” Brown said. “Not only are they underpaid, but they have incredibly stressful jobs.”
Brown said the new Inspire Waupaca program was created as a job-shadowing and summer internship opportunity for high school students. Waupaca has also created a community fund to help raise child care worker wages.
“Where do we go from here? Are we asking the right questions? We want to make sure we understand what we are facing,” Brown said. “The only way of fixing this is, we’re going to have to come together as a government and also a business community. We are also looking at legislation; we know that in the future we will need some level of public assistance.”
