A groundbreaking ceremony Thursday kicked off the construction and renovation of the new Montgomery County Early Learning Center.
“This project that we are embarking on today is the most transformative project the Montgomery County Community Foundation has ever been involved in,” said Kelly Taylor, CEO of MCCF.
She stressed that adequate childcare enables parents, especially mothers, to participate fully in the workforce.
“When parents have access to reliable childcare services they can pursue employment opportunities, they can advance their careers, and they can contribute to the economy without compromising their children’s well-being,” Taylor said. “This increased workforce participation not only boosts individual household incomes, but also expands the labor force, driving productivity and economic growth for our community.”
The new $5 million center will provide 124 high-quality childcare seats for infants through age five. The center will be located in the former county government office building at 110 W. South Blvd. The 6,700 square foot building will be completely remodeled, including adding an additional 8,000 square feet on the east and west sides of the structure. Construction is set to begin Monday.
The center will be equipped with furnishings, equipment and safety upgrades to meet Paths to Quality Level 4 and meet accreditation standards for the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The new facility is slated to open in the spring of 2025.
KinderCare was selected to operate the Early Learning Center. The company has more than 50 years of experience providing early childhood care and education combined with expertise in child development and research-based curriculum designed specifically for young children. KinderCare also has the most nationally accredited early learning centers of any private provider in the country.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Montgomery County Community Foundation, employers throughout the region, and the families of Crawfordsville as we work together to increase access to quality child care and early learning in this community,” said Patrick Murray, KinderCare vice president.
He added that the center and the leadership by MCCF to make this partnership possible will serve as a model to communities nationwide.
“This is transformational not just for Crawfordsville and Montgomery County, this is going to be transformational in how people in other communities think about providing access to early learning in their communities moving forward.”
The initial groundwork for the Early Learning Center began in 2019 with the creation of a childcare task force comprised of individuals representing local government, employers, providers, parents, schools and non-profit organizations. The group formed to address the lack of high-quality childcare in the community.
Presently, available providers can serve less than 20% of children under the age of five with high-quality care. This is a serious issue affecting employers, employees, families and the community.
“In the past few years childcare has become an economic development issue that causes a domino effect,” said John Frey, president of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. “When parents don’t have access to childcare, they are unable to work and provide for their families. When parents are unable to work local business and industry suffer. By investing in high-quality early education, we’re helping to alleviate those issues and developing our future workforce at the same time.”
Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton said the importance of childcare for economic and community development cannot be overemphasized.
“Today we are building a center that will supply the workforce for all of you for tomorrow, and we are most likely educating the future leaders of our community,” he said. “Future county commissioners, mayors, industry leaders will walk through those doors. Maybe a future governor or maybe a future president, we really don’t know the potential that exists in this new center.”
The $5 million investment in the Early Learning Center was made possible through the partnership of businesses, government and philanthropy working together to create long-term, sustainable solutions to meet the critical need for additional high-quality childcare. Partners in this endeavor include Acuity Lighting, City of Crawfordsville, DES Engineering, Early Learning Indiana, Hoosier Heartland State Bank, Lakeside Book Company, Montgomery County government, MCCF, North Central Health Services, Nucor, Penguin Random House, State of Indiana, Tempur Sealy, Tipmont, Tri-County Bank & Trust and Wabash College.
“Nelson Mandela said, ‘History will judge us by the difference we make in the everyday lives of children,’ and I think history will judge what happened here today very kindly,” Barton said.
