Child care a theme of North Dakota workforce grants

Child care and workforce recruitment and retention initiatives highlighted 18 grants awarded to local and regional organizations by the North Dakota Commerce Department.

The $4.1 million in grants announced Tuesday are part of the first round of funding for the agency’s Regional Workforce Impact Program, which breaks the state into eight different regions to address local concerns involving workforce struggles.

Eight of the 18 grant recipients plan to use their funding to renovate, expand or construct new child care facilities to ease the burden placed on workers in finding care during working hours.

The Jamestown School District is using its $500,000 grant to fund a renovated and expanded child care facility at James Valley Career and Technology Center for use by school district staff.

Robert Lech, superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools, said the district wouldn’t have been able to do the nearly $800,000 project without the grant.

“In about an eight-year span, we had six teachers, and I can’t even speak to the support staff, but … we had six (teachers) that left us because child care was challenging,” Lech said. “So, there was a great deal of urgency for us to want to be able to move forward with this concept.”

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He said the expanded facility could be up and running in about 18 months and should save district staff and faculty hundreds of dollars in monthly child care costs as well as free up spots in the city’s existing child care facilities.

“If we can reduce that bottleneck for teachers, we’re also opening up positions, eliminating waiting lists for our community, too,” said Lech, who is part of North Dakota’s Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force. 

He also said sometimes school staff need to pay child care providers over the summer when they are not working to reserve their child’s spot during the school year. Eliminating those payments should free up money for families that can be spent in the community.

Becca Cruger, director of the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation, said its $323,191 in grant funding will be used in a recruitment study targeting skilled employees located out of state that she believes the region will need as manufacturing, among other business sectors, continue to expand.

“We’re going to go into those communities and find people who are working in the exact roles we need and conduct focus groups to say, ‘what’s it going to take to get you to move to our region?’” Cruger said. “Then we’re going to pilot some marketing … in those selected geographies.”

She also said the Grand Forks EDC needs to help their established businesses find workers to fill open positions now and in the future or the region could lose out on business expansion opportunities.

Additionally, they are planning retention initiatives that will fund internship and mentorship programs, and focus on promoting the city’s Blue Zone Project designation that promotes community-focused healthy living aimed at retaining graduating college students and workers already in the area.

“We’re going to help amplify the work of Young Professionals mentorship programs,” Cruger said. “Young professionals will be paired with experienced professionals to help them advance their careers … and provide advice as they are growing in their own professional journey.”

Katie Ralston Howe, director of the Workforce Development Division at the North Dakota Commerce Department, said the Regional Workforce Impact Program was created because many communities lack funding to bring their workforce ideas to life.

“That’s why we created (the program) was to answer the call for resources to actually activate the ideas that local leaders have,” Ralston Howe said. “This program is critical to addressing our workforce needs in this state.”

Ralston Howe said the department received one-time funding of $12.5 million for the program through the Legislature and has about $8.4 million left for a second and possibly third round of grants. She added the department may request additional funding from the Legislature during the next session to keep the program going based on the overwhelming response from applicants.

“As times are changing, we might evolve this program, but I do continue seeing this being a resource for years to come,” she said.

The 18 Regional Workforce Impact Program grant recipients are:

• City of Alexander: $500,000 to build a new child care facility for about 70 children. 
• Divide County Economic Development Council: $72,000 to develop a marketing campaign to attract new residents and workers to Divide County. 
• McKenzie County Job Development Authority: $4,855 to create a magazine showcasing McKenzie County’s lifestyle advantages to attract and retain a skilled workforce. 
• Williams County: $11,400 to develop a video series to introduce the community and its offerings, aiming to attract families and talent. 
• Golden Kids Early Learning and Childcare Center (Minot): $215,323 to renovate and expand their existing child care facility to create additional spaces for 3–5-year-olds. 
• Minot Area Chamber Economic Development Corporation: $250,000 to promote the WayFinders initiative, a targeted national campaign to attract employees to the Minot area. 
• Rugby Convention and Visitors Bureau: $63,425 to participate in a documentary series called “My Town” to showcase Rugby and attract new residents and workers. 
• Souris Basin Planning Council (Ward County): $241,500 to develop a regional identity and messaging strategy to attract a diverse and skilled workforce. 
• St. Therese Little Flower Parish (Rugby): $188,028 to remodel a vacant convent into a child care facility offering early childhood and Montessori care for up to 25 children. 
• StrengthenND: $250,000 to support the creation of marketing materials that will leverage and increase engagement for the “Find the Good Life” campaign in Region 3, which includes Rolette, Towner, Cavalier, Ramsey, Benson and Eddy Counties. 
• Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation: $223,191 to implement a three-pronged approach to retain talent in the region. 
• Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corporation: $100,000 to conduct a study on the workforce needs that will drive an action plan and talent attraction strategy implementation of the UAS and manufacturing sectors in Region 4. 
• Park River Area Schools: $500,000 to construct a new early learning center. 
• Little Miracles Learning Center (Grand Forks): $433,248 to construct a new child care building to increase the number of available child care slots. 
• Small Wonders Preschool and Child Care Center (Fargo): $500,000 to relocate and expand their child care center to a new, more cost-effective location. 
• James Valley Career and Technology Center (Jamestown): $500,000 to expand their existing child care center by renovating an indoor space. 
• Valley City Barnes County Development Corporation: $71,220 to utilize data to identify target communities for talent attraction. 
• Wishek Job Development Authority: $67,450 to update and remodel the lower level of their community child care building to expand capacity.