Jill Schramm/MDN Emily Schroeder, loan officer with Dakota Business Lending, offers information about economic development funding to the Minot Childcare Committee Thursday.

Funds are available to help childcare businesses get started, but the word needs to get out, members of the Minot Childcare Committee determined Thursday.

The committee met to discuss economic development opportunities that can be used to address the community’s childcare shortage.

Mark Lyman, economic development director with the Minot Area Chamber EDC, said a review of MAGIC Fund guidelines could result in updates that allow for support for childcare in some form. Childcare has not been considered a primary-sector business that would be eligible for MAGIC Fund assistance, although the community is finding that childcare is essential for primary-sector businesses to come to Minot, he said.

“Childcare hasn’t been supported directly by MAGIC Funds, but ING did build a daycare center on their campus to support their employees, and part of that came because of the reality of MAGIC Fund dollars being invested in a call center at the time. Twenty-five years ago, that is what the economy needed for Minot,” Lyman said.

An existing option to support childcare businesses is low-interest loans through the state’s FlexPACE program, administered by Souris Basin Planning Council in Minot, he said. A revolving loan fund used for the community match for FlexPACE was funded using MAGIC Fund dollars.

The North Dakota Development Fund administered by the Department of Commerce has a childcare loan program. The loan amount limit recently was increased from $100,000 to $1 million, Lyman said.

The North Dakota Regional Workforce Impact Program has provided infrastructure grants. Locally, money has been used for equipment for career and technical education centers but also at least one daycare center has used it to expand.

Challenges cited at the meeting included a lack of awareness of the programs by childcare providers and the gaps that still exist. The need for employee training in childcare is one of those gaps, Lyman said.

Committee member Amy Jenkins, who works with childcare licensing, added technology and management are areas where skill training could make a difference.

Emily Schroeder, business development and commercial loan officer with Dakota Business Lending, said her agency’s programs are designed to fill gaps.

“Childcare is definitely a huge gap for us that we have financed in the past and are currently working on projects as well across the state,” she said.

Dakota Business Lending goes beyond financing to include programs to educate and guide small businesses. The biggest success is helping borrowers get to the place where they are confident and able to move forward and get a better product in the end, Schroeder said.

“They’re able to go to multiple financial institutions and show them that they are ready for that next step and that they do need affordable, really great packages available to them,” she said.

Brian Billingsley, community and economic development director for the City of Minot, suggested creating an incentive package for national daycare operations. Having visited with a couple of organizations at a recent event, he said both indicated the median income wasn’t high enough in this area for them to consider Minot. However, he said, incentives might change their minds.

In hearing about the opportunities, Committee Chairman Scott Burlingame suggested that bringing information about different programs together in one place could benefit childcare entrepreneurs.

“I feel encouraged by all this,” committee member Lisa Olson said. “I think it’s a great time for someone that would be interested in starting a business, with the options that are available. It sounds like it’s a pretty business-friendly environment right now.”