The City of Becker continues to move ahead with its study on the availability of childcare within the community, and Monday evening Pebble Creek was the location for a Town Hall to look for solutions to the issue.

First Children’s Finance (FCF) staff were on hand to facilitate the meeting, which reviewed local data and challenged attendees to find creative solutions.

Candace Cegla, Minnesota Business Development Manager for the organization, led a data study to closely examine the statistics pertaining to the Becker area.

“We know communities are faced with childcare shortages,” Cegla told the attendees, which included a mix of daycare providers, local residents, business leaders and City of Becker staffers.  “This is an economic development problem . . . we are here because he care about the economy in Becker.”

The FCF is facilitating the Rural Childcare Innovation Program (RCCIP), a grant that provides assistance to local communities to further grow and support existing childcare providers.

Cegla presented data to support childcare providers’ role in providing protective factors for children within the community, as well as a review of current and future needs.

She stated that within the 55308 zip code, there is a current shortage of 265 spots for childcare, while that number grows to a  deficit of 585 when the entire school district is taken into account.  When the lens is widened, Sherburne County shows a shortage of 3,651 childcare spots.

Respondents to the October 2023 local survey showed that 70% of parents rate the availability of childcare as poor or very poor.  In addition, 43% of respondents say that the availability plays a part in their decision whether or not to have children.

Next, attendees were asked to work in teams to brainstorm possible solutions to the issue and those will then be passed along to the local core team to continue its work on addressing the shortage.

“The next steps will be to have the core team get together in June and discuss the potential solutions/ideas,” City of Becker Economic Development Coordinator Nicole Smude said.  “We will narrow down goals to work toward finding solutions to the childcare shortage in Becker.”

Core team members include, City of Becker: Jacob Sanders, Smude, Bartt Gevens and Mayor Tracy Bertram; Becker Schools: Sue Hiltner and Michelle Peacock; Alyssa Braaten (AFLAC), Sherburne County: Jessica Barthel, Mitch Fennell, Jodi Heurung-Dick; Amy Chmielewski (American Family Insurance), Jennifer Shaw (Starz Dance), Jessica Gilder (Initiative Foundation), NeTia Bauman (GSCDC), Nicole Schmidt (Project 12-04), Nicole Schmitz (Milestones), and Melissa Pribyl (CentraCare).