DEED to host webinar on child care infrastructure
As part of Business of Child Care’s ongoing virtual series highlighting opportunities of the moment, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will be hosting a focused conversation on child care as economic development infrastructure. The session will be hosted by Jeff Andrews, President of Business of Child Care, and will feature Jack Wheeler, Community and Business Development Specialist with Community and Economic Development Associates.
Jack will share the Mapleton, Minnesota experience and how a small rural community reframed child care as infrastructure to unlock workforce participation and long-term economic opportunity.
Mapleton, a community of approximately 1,700 residents, faced a severe child care shortage. More than 60 percent of children lacked a licensed child care spot, parents traveled up to 60 miles round trip for care, and providers had no capacity to expand. Rather than pursuing a traditional, high-cost child care center, the community worked with Business of Child Care to design and deploy a Child Care House, owned by the local economic development authority and operated by an independent provider.
The result was a fundraised $300,000 capital investment that will generate an estimated $6 million in long-term economic return through workforce wages, local ownership, and sustained economic activity. The project demonstrates how child care can be planned, financed, and managed like other forms of public infrastructure.
Virtual Event: February 26, 2026
11:00am - 12:00pm