In Crawford County, Wisconsin, Extension Educators are building a new Child Care Business Development program. Jessica Jane Spayde is leading this process, utilizing her certification in a business consulting toolbox called GrowthWheel, to build a new set of workshops catered to new and existing child care providers in Wisconsin. This program is being built to be simultaneously interpreted into Spanish as well.
Child care is an important economic development and family issue across the United States. As a result, many Extension colleagues across Wisconsin are working on this issue. Child care is also a need across all communities in Wisconsin, including Spanish-speaking community members who sometimes have barriers to accessing quality childcare and access to business support services to start their own child care business.
When Amanda Griswold, Crawford County’s Human Development and Relationship Extension Educator, first approached Jessica Jane Spayde with this issue in Crawford County, they were hoping to bring people together across the community to work on child care. These Crawford County Educators have held community forums and an ongoing networking group of leaders across Southwest Wisconsin (with over 200 participants over the last year).
The GrowthWheel Toolbox is a set of decision sheets that guide business owners to think through important aspects of their business. Utilizing the GrowthWheel decision-sheets, Spayde developed a 5-part workshop series for child care professionals. The five parts include (1) Business Concept, (2) Organizational Setup, (3) Customer Relationships, (4) Operational Processes, and (5) Lessons Learned.
This program is supported by 2021 Dean’s Innovation Grant funding, which funds part of the simultaneous interpretation and materials translation provided by Extension’s Office of Access, Inclusion, and Compliance. Each workshop session also has guest speakers from the child care profession to increase the learning and relevance of the business training sessions.
In November, Spayde tested the program with a live audience of Extension colleagues. Spayde states, “Practicing in a program and getting live feedback from colleagues was a really fun process. My Extension colleagues had some great advice and suggestions that will make this program shine.”
Spayde also stated, “This program wouldn’t be possible without funding from the Dean’s Innovation Grant and without the support of my wonderful local community partners and my fantastic Extension colleagues.”
Anyone interested in offering a child care business training program in their community should contact Jessica Jane Spayde at spayde@wisc.edu.
If you are interested in more information about child care, please contact us.
