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Speakers and panelists took the stage as part of an April 24 Community Solutions Summit organized by Eugene Chamber of Commerce on the topic of child care. The Eugene Chamber of Commerce has identified childcare access and affordability as a critical economic issue.
A crying child being soothed in the back of Venue 252 could occasionally be heard during a summit on child care April 24.
The Community Solutions Summit, organized by the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, was in response to the critical issue identified by the organization of child care access and affordability.
“For our region’s economy to grow and thrive, it is imperative that we have a competitive landscape to recruit both businesses and talent to our community,” said Joe Liebersbach, director of marketing and events at the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce.
“If there are two very similar communities in size and industry, but one community has a much more robust child care offering, we’re going to lose out to that community every single time,” Liebersbach said. “We will continue to lose quality talent, which so many businesses have shared with us is a key issue for them right now, and businesses will suffer if not shut down because of it. So it is truly imperative for our community as a whole that we figure out solutions to this crisis.”
Brittany Quick-Warner, chamber president and chief executive, noted that Lane County faces a shortage of 1,500 to 2,500 childcare slots. She emphasized childcare providers often earn wages inadequate for career expansion and long-term growth.
Stephanie Ferguson Melhorn, senior director of workforce and international labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, presented data from the national labor market showing how child care directly impacts workforce participation.
She said about 50,000 individuals each month are unable to make it to work due to gaps in child care. She called Oregon a “child care desert” with about three children for every one child care spot. She said the state loses about $1.5 billion annually due to gaps in child care — which in Oregon averages about $13,000 annually for a typical 4-year-old.
How businesses are responding
Sabrina Parsons, CEO of Palo Alto Software, was one of several business leaders who described how they are addressing child care issues in their organizations.
Parsons discussed creating flexible work environments and dedicated spaces for working mothers at her company.
Amie Csiszer, a full-time practicing veterinary surgeon who, with her husband, owns Oregon Veterinary Referral Associates, discussed subsidizing the day care tuition paid by employees.
Eugene Family YMCA, Head Start of Lane County, and other child care providers offered insights into challenges they face, including staffing shortages, licensing requirements, and space limitations.
Brian Steffen, chief executive of the YMCA, said the organization has “wait lists that are often many hundreds, up to 1,000 children.”
Positive community impacts
The summit also showcased innovative programs making an impact, including the Early Child Care Business Accelerator Program, which has created 230 new child care slots in Lane County by supporting new in-home providers.
Lane Community College converted a convenience store at its Titan Court residence hall in downtown Eugene into a preschool classroom. Since 2022, that center has provided day care to 12 children annually.
The recently approved Lane Early Learning Registered Apprenticeship Program is recruiting candidates for an apprenticeship program that will likely start at New Dream Child Care Center in Eugene.
The competency-based program will see apprentices completing 200 hours of training and 2,000 hours of work, with a target wage of around $20 an hour, with an apprentice starting at about 70% of that.
Public-private partnerships
The University of Oregon’s partnership with Willamalane Park and Recreation District’s preschool program will expand the program from 20 to 80 child care spots, with 60 currently offered. UO provided funds to Willamalane to build infrastructure to add classrooms and enhance preschool facilities at Bob Keefer Center.
Last year, the city of Florence received $1.9 million for infrastructure to support a project with 32 affordable housing units and a 5,000-square-foot early learning facility.
Cathryn Stephens, director of Eugene Airport, discussed an initiative of a child care site in partnership with area manufacturing employers. Stephens said about 1,200 people work on airport property and need access to child care to ensure the car rentals, concessionaires, and private businesses at the airport keep operating.
Continuing the advocacy
Employer-sponsored child care was cited as an important piece of the puzzle. Panelists, however, stressed the key to long-term, durable change is business leaders working together to advocate for public policy reforms that expand working families’ access to affordable, quality child care.
Panelists hoped employers would consider workplace policies such as allowing babies at work, flexible scheduling, and lactation rooms. They urged people interested in advocating for child care legislation changes to participate in advocacy by contacting legislators with personal stories.
Lane County Commissioner Laurie Trieger said she is passionate about child care issues, along with other kinds of care, such as elder care, because “child care is the work that makes all other work possible.”
“This is really an issue that affects every single one of us,” she said.
“This is a historic, cultural, and political problem that we all have created,” Trieger said. “The issue of child care has never been discussed at the Board of Lane County Commissioners until the last few years. So who is at the table matters. We’re taught to think this is just our problem to figure out. It’s not. It’s a communal, collective problem, and it takes all of us to solve it.”
