Childcare business owners can struggle with licensing requirements, staffing shortages, and pricing, state officials say.
In response, a couple of state agencies are launching a resource hub for childcare businesses to try to help them stay afloat and grow.
The Small Business Association of Michigan Foundation will serve as that hub.
The initiative was led by the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP) in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and Pulse at the W.E. Upjohn Institute.
The new support hub will connect childcare businesses with the appropriate business tools and support systems.
The group is planning to use an existing model, created by MEDC, as a way to create a support network designed for childcare businesses.
Emily Laidlaw is the deputy director of the Office of Early Education for MiLEAP.
“The small business support hub has already had a great impact on Michigan’s small businesses. They have served over 8,800 businesses, and over 5,000 jobs have been created,” said Laidlaw.
She said families heavily rely on the support and service of childcare businesses but do not always have access to their services, particularly in underserved communities. Laidlaw said the hub will prioritize expansion in communities that need it most, such as those with limited childcare options.
“By expanding the small business support hub work to childcare and really giving some expertise, [that] will allow businesses to expand, grow, and sustain in areas that may not have had care options otherwise,” said Laidlaw.
Laidlaw said childcare business owners often manage their businesses without consistent economic and small business aid that is available to other industries.
She said the hub intends to close the gap between childcare businesses and the broader business support systems.
“Each childcare business will need something different. Childcare providers are experts in caring for children, but creating a budget, and adding more employees if they’d like to expand to serve more children. Understanding how to do that, how to offer better benefits, or to expand into a different space to better serve their needs; all of these need a business plan to go with it,” she said. “Supporting the operational support to get them to where they would like to go with their childcare business is the focus of the small business hub.”
