Access to high-quality, affordable child care is a growing challenge for working families across North Carolina. Recognizing this issue as a key factor affecting workforce participation and economic growth, Centralina Regional Council partnered with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Solutions to host two Centralina Learns webinar events. These sessions, held in November 2024 and January 2025, brought together businesses, economic developers and child care providers to explore innovative solutions and best practices.
The Child Care Problem
A lack of accessible and affordable child care has created significant barriers for working parents, impacting employee retention, productivity and regional workforce development. Employers often struggle to find solutions that meet both business needs and the needs of working families. Addressing this issue requires regional collaboration and public-private partnerships to develop sustainable child care models.
What We’ve Done
Centralina Economic Development District hosted an in-person Child Care Forum on February 15, 2024, in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Child Care Resources Inc., bringing together economic developers, child care providers, and local government leaders to develop actionable solutions. The forum resulted in a Child Care: Nurturing Growth toolkit, which outlined strategies for improving child care access through zoning, policy adjustments and employer engagement.
Building on this information, the Centralina Learns webinars provided a platform to share innovative child care strategies that align with Goal 1, Recommendation 1 and Recommendation 3 of the Centralina “Prosperity for All” Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS):
November 2024 Webinar â âBridging Child Care and Businessâ
- Highlighted Tri-Share models and other public-private partnership strategies for making child care more accessible.
- Featured speakers from Cleveland County Partnership for Children and NC Department of Commerce who discussed creative approaches for business and government collaboration.
January 2025 Webinar â âChild Care Solutions for Employersâ
- Focused on practical child care benefit options that employers can implement to support their workforce.
- Provided insights from TOOTRiS and Patch Caregiving, sharing actionable steps for businesses to integrate child care solutions that improve retention and productivity.
Through these sessions, Centralina fostered dialogue between employers, child care providers and policymakers to identify scalable child care solutions that can be applied across the region.
Outcomes
Engagement: Over 70 business and community leaders participated across the two webinars, gaining access to actionable child care strategies.
Policy Alignment: Directly supported CEDS Goal 1, Recommendation 3, which emphasizes expanding access to high-quality child care to strengthen the workforce.
Business Impact: Employers received strategies to assess workforce child care needs, explore solutions and implement child care-friendly workplace policies.
Regional Collaboration: Strengthened partnerships between public and private stakeholders, setting the stage for future initiatives to enhance child care accessibility.
Moving Forward
The success of these events highlights the critical role that regional collaboration plays in solving child care solutions to bolster workforce participation. Employers, economic developers and elected officials must continue to prioritize child care solutions as a workforce development strategy. For more information on the role of child care in the NC economy, visit our website or reach out to Anna Lu Wilson at alwilson@centralina.org.
