Published: Dec. 20, 2023 at 4:27 AM CST

QUINCY (WGEM) – If you’ve searched for local child care and come up short, you are not alone.

It’s something economic development leaders said they want to tackle as 2023 turns into 2024.

Administrators at Quincy’s 10th Street Children’s Academy said they usually have the capacity to take up to 150 children, but right now they can only care for 100 because of the state’s staff to child ratio policies.

Child Care Director Alison Berhorst said the demand for infant and toddler care is the highest as those demands make up most of their waiting list, which is at almost 200 kids. She said currently they have 25 staff members. She said when they attempt to recruit staff, they often face challenges from college students who have concerns about entering the childcare field.

“Looking at the medium wage for early childhood teachers, it’s substantially less than other careers that may have the same level of education so definitely pay is an important one,” Alison Berhorst said

She said their starting pay is $15 an hour while other places pay minimum wage. Berhorst said benefits are another challenge. Limited funds mean they can’t provide certain things like health care, but they can offer PTO, sick days, and retirement benefits to help their workers.

Berhorst said one way they’ve managed to help with staffing is by partnering with local colleges like John Wood Community College to provide students with internship opportunities at their facility. She said it not only gives them classroom experience, but also has helped recruit future workers

Great River Economic Development Foundation Kyle Moore said the lack of staff impacts just how many children facilities are able to take care of, and it has effects on the workforce and economy. He said for parents, a lack of childcare slots means they have to decide who works and who stays at home. He said for employers, it hinders their ability to recruit people. State regulations require a certain staff to child ratio, and when facilities are short staffed, it means less children at their facility.

He said they continue to discuss strategies with facilities and employers to help fix the childcare shortage.

“We really want to work to get more people into childcare and to get them to understand that it’s a wonderful life fulfilling career,” Moore said. “One of the things that we want to do is work with our partners across our institutions of learning to reduce the cost to obtain a career in education and childcare.”

He said they also want to focus on staffing and supporting existing facilities locally. He said building new centers would only take away workers from current struggling centers.

He said support can take the form of grants or partnerships, and working with existing facilities to help them navigate red tape and other regulations.

Moore said a common problem childcare facilities face is how long background checks on people take. He said when facilities hire someone, the background check can take one to two months, and by the time it gets back, the person might have found another job.

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https://www.wgem.com/2023/12/20/leader-look-address-quincy-child-care-shortage/

QUINCY (WGEM) – The Great River Economic Development Foundation had its annual 2023 meeting Tuesday night.

GREDF members and community leaders attended the meeting to look back on the economic successes of 2023.

GREDF members said Target and United Alloy boosted this year’s economic development.

They said next year’s plan will focus on affordable housing and job demands in the community.

“Work with elected leaders to adopt a strategy to combat the housing shortages that we have here so that way its more affordable and that people have more choices. We also know that childcare is a huge barrier for people to gain employment and so we want to continue to work with our partners to really develop some childcare solutions,” said GREDF President Kyle Moore.

GREDF members said they released a housing study last year and will implement their plans for it in 2024.

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https://www.wgem.com/2023/12/13/great-river-economic-development-foundation-hosts-2023-annual-meeting/

QUINCY (WGEM) – Those at the Great River Economic Development Foundation say they have a lot to celebrate.

President Kyle Moore said when they hold their annual meeting Tuesday, they will not only highlight past accomplishments but also plan future initiatives.

Moore said past successes include bringing Target to Quincy, bringing 73 new families to the city through their Q-Wrap program and the fact that 40 businesses have signed up for their Business Concierge Program.

He said they plan to announce three new workforce development programs to further help the businesses community in 2024.

“A lot of times in economic development, our current businesses and residents always ask why we always try to attract people from outside of the area and what are we doing for people that are already here?” Moore said.

Moore said the programs are designed to re-skill and re-develop the area’s existing workforce. He said they will continue to support local businesses.

Adams County Board chairman Kent Snider said GREDF has done a great job bringing businesses like Target to the Quincy area, as it’s brought jobs and other businesses along with it. He said he wants to see more businesses come to town, like restaurants and retail, to help bring more jobs to the area. Snider said he also wants to hear or see some more action when it comes to developing the riverfront.

“That can really help the economy and bring a lot of visitors here so we really need to get that off the ground and we’re still stuck in the process of burying the lines,” he said. “We need to get that finished so we can move forward and build our dock, build our amphitheater, whatever we want to do down there.”

Door open for the meeting tonight at 4:45 p.m. at the Oakley-Lindsay Center and the event starts at 5:30 p.m.. All members of the community are welcome to attend.

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