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FRANKLIN COUNTY- Calling all aspiring child care providers! Have you ever wondered what it’s like to own and operate a child care business?
Location: Freeman Township
Come experience a day in the life of a provider! Join the Child Care Business Lab for a unique tour of an open child care provider’s space in Freeman Township on January 22nd from 9:00-11:00am. Participants will gain an inside look at how to prepare a space for care, create children’s activities, and what is needed to become licensed. Click here to register by January 21st and receive travel information.
Don’t take it from us! Hear from providers who were in your shoes not too long ago:
“Child care is practically in my DNA,” says Molly Glidden with a big smile. “When I was just 4 years old, my mother opened a child care in our home and she still runs Little Buddies today. She’s my role model and was the reason I joined the Child Care Business Lab. She encouraged me plus two people who worked for her at Little Buddies to become our own bosses and open our own family child cares. We started the program in March and by August, all three of us had opened. We are in different towns and we each have our own focus. One of us runs an afterschool program and one of us has a traditional family child care. Me? I’m all about nature & being outside with the kids as much as possible. We’re each helping to grow the minds and experiences of the next generation. I truly don’t know what could be more rewarding.”
A 15-year employee of a local manufacturing business, Jackie Lobdell made good money and had good benefits, but she couldn’t find reliable child care for her 2 young foster children – and she struggled to make her daily shifts. Decades earlier, she had thought about opening a child care. But I backed out because I was kind of scared. And that’s why I took the plunge.” With support from the CEI Child Care Business Lab, Jackie created her curriculum, wrote her business plan and opened Kingfield Kinder Care in 2021. “They helped me build up my contract and the policies that I needed for my daycare – to care for children and deal with parents. I also learned how to do a cash flow forecast for three years.” Former co-workers were surprised when Jackie left her job after 15 years. “But I love it. I’m my own person. And, this is a family business – my sister, my husband and one of my son’s girlfriends all work here.” Jackie’s business is thriving – and will double in size in 2025.
For more information on the start-up owner training, visit the Child Care Business Lab.
