Experts say expanding child care access is key to talent retention in mid Michigan

Investing in child care is good business, according to economic and early childhood experts.

An Early Childhood/Child Care Business Summit held at Dow Diamond in Midland recently showcased how supporting families pays big dividends for businesses and the community.  

Tera Szeliga, interim president of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, said the goal of the event was to help businesses understand how putting money into child care is an investment in talent attraction and retention. 

Kati Mora, president of Middle Michigan Development Corporation, said her goal is to make this region one of the best places in the state for child care. 

The opening speaker, Gabrielle Pepin, an economist for the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, explained the impact early childhood education has on the economy.

Pepin said statistics show a sizeable number of parents are not employed because of child care issues. Michigan State University has documented child care deserts in Michigan. 

In Bay County, the survey shows 3,474 licensed openings for more than 15,000 children. 

In Isabella County, it shows 2,782 licensed openings for more than 8,000 children. 

In Midland County, it shows 4,732 licensed openings for more than 13,000 children.

For women between 25 and 54 with children under five years old, 19.4% say they are not seeking work because of child care problems, Pepin said. In the same age group, 30.2% work part-time rather than full-time due to child care issues. Also in that age group, 4.2% said they had missed work within the past week due to a child care-related problem.

“Child care issues are keeping parents away from work,” Pepin said.

Issues include high cost, lack of available spots, and unstable child care options. Keep in mind as you consider the cost of child care that most people become parents early in their careers, when their earning power is limited, Pepin adds. 

Pepin says that in Bay County the median tuition for infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers at child care centers are more than $8,000. In Midland, child care costs vary between about $7,000 and about $10,000, depending upon the child’s age and type of care.

Businesses benefit when they invest in early childhood education, Pepin adds.

When reliable, quality child care is available in an area, it’s easier for businesses to recruit and retain top talent. That leads to businesses spending fewer dollars on recruiting and training new employees. Parents with reliable child care also are less likely to miss work.

“Employees who are not worried about kids also are more productive,” Pepin added.

Down the road, kids who are enrolled in quality programs tend to do better in school and society. They are less likely to commit crimes later in life. Those kids have a better chance of growing into high-quality employees, she says. They also earn more money and are healthier adults.

“I hope we made the case that this is a worthwhile investment,” Pepin said.

A 2025 tax bill, HR-1 One Big Beautiful Act, also included an increase in the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and enhancements to the Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit. 

In addition, Shannon Garrett – MI Tri-Share senior program advisor Michigan Department for Lifelong Education, Advance, and Potential – explained how the MI Tri-Share program can help. The Great Lakes Bay Region was the first place in the state where the program was offered. (Read more about Tri-Share in this April 2021 Route Bay City article.)

Employees who meet income guidelines are eligible for MI Tri-Share, which splits child care costs evenly between families, businesses, and the state, Garrett explained. The goal was to help people get back to work after the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Now, it’s being expanded to include families who don’t meet the income guidelines. For the families earning more, the employer pays one third of the cost while the employee pays two thirds. The state pays nothing, but administers the program.

Garrett says since MI Tri-Share began, families have saved more than $11 million.

She also emphasized the same points Pepin made, reiterating that quality child care helps recruit and retain employees.

Sara Parker, director of workforce development for the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, agreed providing quality child care is an effective way to get people into the workforce. She also cited a shortage of quality child care options in the region, encouraging a focus on increasing supply.

“We’re seeing that child care is not a family issue,” Parker said. “It’s a business issue and a community issue.”

Kathy Szenda Wilson, co-executive director of Pulse at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, shared several different ways employers can help employees with child care concerns.

Before implementing any suggestions, Szenda Wilson said it’s key to determine what employees need. She suggested surveying employees to learn the issues they’re facing. Some may find it helpful to have longer leaves after adding a child to the family, meaning they don’t have to search for infant care. Single parents of school-age kids face different issues.

Success solutions she’s seen include:

• A small company shifted hours to align with the beginning or ending of the school day, meaning parents don’t need both before- and after-school care. 
• A large firm built its own on-site child care center.
• Another firm partnered with a child care center to purchase three spots on the waiting list. Then, when an employee needed child care, they took the spot. The business only had to pay when an employee wasn’t using one of the spots.

Szenda Wilson also recommended businesses join a Regional Child Care Coalition. Parents looking for help can consult Great Start to Quality. 

The event concluded with a presentation from Paul Aultman, president of Vantage Plastics, a Standish-based company that was the first Tri-Share employer in this region.

Aultman said his goal is to become the premier employer in the region by 2027. He sees quality child care as fitting into Vantage’s core values. 

“This child care thing is an opportunity,” he said. 

Addressing the child care shortage helps his employees, customers, vendors, and even the community.

“We love this community. We think they love us,” he said. 

When employees are worried about their kids, they aren’t productive. 

“There’s a lot of headaches sometimes – I’ll say it like it is,” Aultman said. 

Easing those headaches improves Vantage’s bottom line. 

“I know the return is there,” Aultman said.