The Childcare funding received by Lenawee Now recently was provided through the Early Childhood Investment Corporation (ECIC). We applied for their competitive funds. Their regional planning coalition funding allows Lenawee Now, the Hillsdale Economic Development Partnership, and the Monroe Business Development Center to work together to find regional solutions to the lack of affordable and accessible childcare.
Economic developers are keenly interested in working on solutions to the childcare challenge. Each of our counties, and the state as a whole lag behind several states in labor force participation. One of the reasons people are not in our workforce is the cost of childcare. The parent’s income, minus childcare costs, transportation costs, and taxes, is insufficient to yield enough net income to trigger a decision to work or keep working.
Each of our countries has several unfilled jobs, across industry types. So, finding solutions to the childcare challenge will enable more people to work in more of our available jobs.
We are working to secure additional funding to build a business planning path for those who could begin to enter the childcare industry.
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