Government : Vinton-Shellsburg CSD awarded Child Care Business Incentive Grant

The Vinton-Shellsburg Community School district released the following statement concerning a grant received from the State of Iowa.
"It is with great excitement to announce our school district is the recipient of a 1.5 million dollar grant from Future Ready Iowa - Workforce Development!
The grant will be used to build a "Tiny Vikes Early Learning Center" adding preschool classrooms and classroom space for wrap around child care.
This grant acceptance was made possible with the support of local businesses, specifically Virginia Gay hospital.
This newest project will be added to list of projects being organized, including a solar array at the high school and a Heating, Cooling, Ventilation system overhaul at the middle school. These projects are being financed utilizing physical plant and equipment levy dollars along with federal relief funding, specifically denoted for air quality improvement.
Release from Governor Reynolds:
"I know how important and critical child care is to working Iowans! Today I announced over $26M in grant funding for 23 projects intended to help businesses jumpstart new child care opportunities and make it easier for Iowans to find child care options through their employer."
Below is the information received from the State of Iowa. 

Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District

Vinton (52 new slots)  New child care slots are based on estimates from applicants and may change upon project completion.

Tiny Vikes Early Learning Center Infrastructure Award: $1,500,000

The Tiny Vikes Early Learning Center project proposes to build an early learning center at Tilford Elementary in Vinton, Iowa. The center will house the 3- and 4-year-old preschool programs for the Vinton-Shellsburg Community School District.

The center will also provide child care for these students from 6:30 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday. This project will expand the current before and after school program for children aged 5-10 years.

Total Infrastructure Awards in Iowa: $25,992,273

Slots Awards: $603,443

Total Awards: $26,595,716

Total Amount Invested on Projects: $56,677,652

Total Number of Projects: 23

Number of New Child Care Slots: 1786

* Number of Employers Participating: 67 

The Governor released the following statement:

"Governor Kim Reynolds today awarded $26.6 million in grant funding to 23 projects intended to help businesses jumpstart new child care opportunities and make it easier for Iowans to find child care options through their employer. 
 
The Child Care Business Incentive Grant is awarding 19 projects with $25.9 million to address infrastructure projects, while four projects will receive $603,433 to support agreements between businesses and local centers that create new child care slots. In total, today's funding from Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will involve 67 employers and is expected to create nearly 1,786 childcare slots. 
 
"Iowa businesses know that access to quality child care is a major factor in employees' ability to work," Gov. Reynolds said. "These awards will support and incentivize employer investment in child care resources on-site or through community partnerships and strengthen our efforts to provide high-quality child care throughout the state of Iowa." 
 
The Child Care Business Incentive Grant was established this year to enable businesses and employer consortiums to build on-site child care centers or partner with local childcare providers to increase new child care slots for employees. This grant program advances one of the top recommendations of the Child Care Task Force - to incentivize business engagement in child care. 
 
"Not only do today's awards help employers create or expand child care for existing workers, but they also enhance their ability to be successful in attracting and retaining new employees," said Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development. "Our focus moving forward must remain on addressing these specific types of barriers to provide options for families and create an environment where the local workforce can thrive." 
 
"These grants support Iowa's investment in quality child care options and strengthen parents' ability to provide for their families while gaining the benefits of early learning for their children," said Iowa Department of Health and Human Services Director Kelly Garcia. "As a working mom who still has a child in care, I see first-hand the advantage children who engage in early learning have and deeply understand the need for additional access in our State. These grants take that next step forward in ensuring Iowa's commitment to achieving better access for all." 
 
Today's awards continue the state's commitment to funding meaningful child care projects across the state. To build on these successes, IWD and HHS are announcing a second round of funding for the Child Care Business Incentive slots grant. This new opportunity seeks to provide additional flexibility in the ways employers can partner with local childcare providers to meet the needs of their employees. Grants will support projects that increase licensed or operational child care slots, add slots to meet new time/day requirements of employees, or fill currently licensed (but unfilled) slots for the benefit of employees. 

• Applications are now being accepted at IowaGrants.gov. Applications are due by 11:59 a.m. on October 17, 2022. 

• Click here for Notice of Funding and Application Information: Link 

 Including today's announcement, the state of Iowa has awarded 191 projects with approximately $75.6 million in grant funding to help create over 10,700 new child care slots."