CEI business lab accepting applications from child-care entrepreneurs
Coastal Enterprises Inc., the Brunswick-based community development financial institution, this week launched the Child Care Business Lab, a skills development program designed to grow new child care enterprises in under-served areas of Maine.
The four-month training, which includes classes in Waterville, individual mentoring and other activities, is free for approved applicants. Entrepreneurs from Aroostook, Franklin, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset and Washington counties are eligible.
Child care providers contribute to a healthy economy in three ways, according to CEI: The providers deliver education and other services for Maine’s future workforce, eliminate a barrier many parents face when they want to work, and provide job opportunities to child care workers.
“Access to quality child care is a key piece of building an economy that works for everyone,” Cynthia Murphy, senior program director for workforce solutions at CEI, said in a news release Tuesday. “Since the 1970s, CEI has provided financing and/or advice to over 150 child care businesses and nonprofits in Maine. We’ve used that experience to design the Child Care Business Lab, giving prospective child care providers the tools and networks needed to successfully launch and sustain a child care enterprise.”
But data show the unmet need for child care is significant. Across Maine, only 26.5% of children up to 14 years old (55,000 children) are enrolled in paid child care. Parents who want to be in the labor force are unable to participate because they don’t have child care options; many in rural communities either work part-time or not at all. Compounding the challenge, the number of family-based child care businesses, the predominant offering in rural areas, declined 28% in Maine from 2010-16.
The Child Care Business Lab is designed to address this gap by giving entrepreneurs the tools to start a sustainable operation, with industry-specific knowledge about child care and early childhood education.
The curriculum has four areas of focus.
• Specialized child care business knowledge. Understanding the Maine rules for licensing, teacher qualifications and staff-to-child ratios is just the beginning of what child care business owners and directors need to know to comply with state laws. From employee criminal background checks, space and equipment minimums, to lunch nutritional requirements, individuals operating child care centers must know and establish the policies and procedures required by law.
• Access to capital. Many homes and buildings require renovation to meet local zoning ordinances and/or Maine child care quality standards. Other upfront costs include furniture, education supplies, games and playground equipment.
• Increased business acumen. The curriculum addresses the economics of a child care operation, considering headcount, wages and state regulated child-to-staff ratios. Frequently, the ability of parents to pay doesn’t match the cost of providing quality child care. In an effort to charge more affordable rates, many business owners pay their staff low wages, giving rise to employee turnover and increased costs.
• Achieving and maintaining financial stability. New child care entrepreneurs face many of the same challenges and risks that other small business owners encounter, with the added complexity of operating in a highly regulated environment. Entrepreneurs will learn how to identify potential challenges and resources in the planning stages to help them increase financial stability in the long term.
CEI launched the lab with the help of a $400,000 grant from by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the program is expected to run for five years.
Applications are due Jan. 31 for the first training group, which begins Feb. 27. For more information, click here.
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