When it comes to child care access, Wisconsin is facing what can only be termed a crisis.
Just last month, the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families’ 2024 Market Rate Survey reported a 25% statewide drop in affordable child care slots. Gov. Tony Evers says the decrease correlates with dwindling federal funding for the state’s Child Care Counts program. His 2023-25 budget proposal included a $340 million investment to make the program permanent in Wisconsin, but that was ultimately removed by the state legislature.
And state and federal government programs are important, experts say, but not remotely the sole solution. Bringing the state’s business community into the conversation is critical, which is why the Greater Green Bay Chamber mobilized to create the Wisconsin Childcare Summit. The first-of-its-kind event is set to take place Sept. 11 at Resch Expo.
“In the current labor market, there are different headwinds, and child care keeps coming up as a relevant topic,” says Eric DeKorne, vice president of development for the Greater Green Bay Chamber. “So as the chamber, we’re really trying to think about, ‘what’s the business community’s role in that?’”
The summit is intended for business leaders who want to increase their understanding of the crisis, explains DeKorne — it’s not for child care workers and advocates who already have deeper understanding of the issue.
Part of the education offered at the event will be through a keynote address by Joseph Fuller, co-director of Harvard University’s “Managing the Future of Work” project. The event will also leverage child care thought leadership in Wisconsin and provide platforms for sharing ideas.
“We believe businesses will be open to the dialogue and in learning more, just better preparing their organizations to respond better, or maybe pick up a few suggestions for best practices they can employ to position themselves in a better spot,” DeKorne says. “It’s more of a marathon approach.”
DeKorne says the Greater Green Bay Chamber doesn’t often host statewide events, but this issue in many ways warrants an all-hands-on-deck strategy.
“We certainly know that the landscape in Greater Green Bay reflects the landscape in Wisconsin, and we thought ‘why not expand the scope a little bit?’” he says.
Broader conversations
Payton Lehnherr, workforce development coordinator for the Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation (GOEDC), says the statewide aspect of the event is an exciting opportunity for her organization. As coordinator of the Greater Oshkosh Child Care Task Force, Lehnherr says she’s always looking for connections and inspiration around this critical topic, which is consistently cited as a top concern by businesses in Greater Oshkosh.
Lehnherr describes the next steps for the Oshkosh Child Care Task Force as moving from efforts to “stabilize” child care, which were aided by pandemic-era grant monies, toward efforts to “revolutionize” child care, which will require extensive collaboration and a willingness to pursue new approaches.
“A lot of funding for these pilot programs is coming out of the nonprofit stage, but that’s only going to get us so far,” she says. “There’s definitely going to be a chance for our business community to invest in the solution.”
At the Sept. 11 event, DeKorne says, the chamber isn’t setting out to dictate a plan or agenda, rather simply to facilitate discussion.
“What happens after that, we’ll see what kind of traction takes place,” DeKorne says. “It’s not appropriate for me to predict what’s going to happen, but we think it’s important to have the conversations and begin sharing some of this knowledge so that businesses can be better.”
DeKorne and Lehnherr both say they are excited for the energy that will come from getting a variety of leaders in the room together to focus on the critical topic.
“With businesses there, all those leaders and decision makers, that’s going to be a fun platform to network,” Lehnherr says. “I’m excited for Green Bay to kick it off and give child care its day.”
Wisconsin Childcare Summit
- Wednesday, Sept. 11
- 8 a.m.–3 p.m.
- Resch Expo, Green Bay
greatergbc.org/childcare-solutions-taskforce/wisconsin-childcare-summit
