CHARLESTON, W.Va. – In the midst of a childcare shortage, Advantage Valley wants to support anyone who wants to open a business and help close the gap.
That’s why the organization is restarting its childcare business workshops to educate potential providers on the steps involved in opening or expanding their business.
“We have an extreme shortage of childcare, whether it be people who are in-home providers taking care of up to six kids or people who want to open a center which could be taking care of dozens of kids; at all levels we have a big, big need,” Advantage Valley President and CEO Terrell Ellis said.
Advantage Valley is hosting in-person workshops on Tuesday at Area 34 in Hurricane and Thursday at Element Federal Credit Union in Charleston, as well as a virtual workshop on Wednesday. One of the key features will be the opportunity to learn from Advantage Valley’s business coaches.
“We can help them with business plans, and also, we have money that can be made available for mini-grants to buy furniture, equipment, and signage to make some modifications to a building. We also have loan funds,” Ellis said.
Additionally, representatives will be on hand with resources on licensing, health department guidelines, fire regulations, and other state requirements. Ellise said the regulatory step can often be where plans go awry.
“That’s, a lot of times, where people get really hung up. They’re interested in taking care of the kids, but all of the bureaucracy around licensing and regulation trips them up,” she said.
There may also be help on the way in the form of legislative aid. House Bill 4191, awaiting Governor Patrick Morrisey’s signature, passed during the most recent legislative session, and Ellis believes it can do a lot to make things easier on childcare providers.
“I really admire all of the people who have been out there advocating for these changes in childcare—for five years, probably, they’ve been advocating for this—so this bill will take care of some of the really critical problems we see in running a childcare business,” she said.
The workshops are free and begin each night at 6 p.m. Information on how to register is available at advantagevalley.com.