New Loan Program Bolsters Child Care Providers

Licensed child care providers in Wyoming have a new loan program available to them through from the Wyoming Business Council.  The Child Care Facility Loan program is designed to help providers expand their services, creating more jobs and helping to tackle a shortage of licensed providers in the state.

Julie Koslowski, program manager for the Wyoming Business Council explains.

"They can upgrade kitchens, for example, to meet licensing standards, to make changes to their facility that would accommodate children with special needs or comply with the American with Disabilities Act, upgrade lighting, plumbing, roofs. So its really a wide variety of uses of funds."

Koslowski says the program is available to both home-based and center-based providers.  She says, the loan funds can also be used to help a potential child care provider reach licensure,  "So that we know, by providing the loan funds, that, in fact, we'll be enabling someone to open a new child care center."

One of the primary goals of the loan program, Koslowski says, is to create jobs by helping providers expand.  She points out there's a potential double benefit with children having access to more quality childcare as parents enter the workforce.