A recent Action Hour hosted by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce at the Verner Center for Early Learning brought together local business leaders to discuss the importance of continued state investment in childcare.

Representing Presenting Sponsor AdventHealth, Director of Communications Victoria Dunkle said childcare is critical to the availability of the area’s workforce.

“Childcare is critical to our economy,” Dunkle said. “As the workforce behind the workforce, childcare workers support parents’ ability to go to work.”

Dunkle also said the early childhood years are critical for brain development, and providing high-quality education opportunities for young children is a critical component of their education.

A federal grant put in place during the pandemic that supplemented wages for childcare workers, and there is a possibility that this grant funding could come to an end. Without extension, the childcare workforce could see a 12% to 20% decrease in wages, potentially forcing many childcare workers to leave the industry. This could create a trickle-down effect that may lead to tough decisions for many working parents.

“North Carolina is a top recruiter for businesses,” Dunkle said. “At one time childcare was something that was nice to have, and now it is something that is absolutely necessary.”

Part of the Asheville Area Chamber’s WomanUP programming, this Action Hour invited business leaders to join the Chamber in asking lawmakers to reinstate funding to continue this grant. Attendees were invited to write postcards and help children at the Verner Center create painted handprints to send to lawmakers in Raleigh to advocate for the importance of continuing this grant, thereby supporting the childcare workforce and availability for parents to go to work.

Partners in this advocacy effort include Buncombe Partnership for Children, Children First/Communities in Schools and Verner Center for Early Learning.

The Action Hour was the culmination of a three-part series combining the Asheville Chamber’s popular WomanUP programming aimed at women in business and the Chamber’s advocacy and policy initiatives. Earlier programs in this series shared economic impacts of child care availability and importance of quality early education. More resources on this topic on the Asheville Chamber blog.