The Ashe County Chamber of Commerce is raising awareness about the local economic impact of the statewide child care crisis.
Every month, the chamber hosts an event called “Morning Mingle.” The latest subject was the child care crisis, though Executive Director Kitty Honeycutt says the topic "comes up in every meeting that's held.”
That’s because in Ashe County, child care issues have disrupted employment for more than 900 parents of young children. Honeycutt says the crisis costs the county nearly $5 million annually in lost business activity and tax revenue, too. It also impacts tourism.
“We're very, very grateful for all of our visitors that come, and we want to give them the best experience," Honeycutt said. "However, some of our child care issues affect our ability to do that, especially in the service industries.”
Affordable, available child care is on the decline in North Carolina. Officials say the state has lost 13% of its programs since 2019.
At the Ashe County event, local business leaders and representatives from Excel NC, a coalition focused on early education, talked about solutions. Like a new program called NC Tri-Share, where employers and the state split the cost of child care with workers.
"We're not going to fix it doing the same thing that we've been doing," Honeycutt said. "So we just need to be willing to do something different."
The chamber is hosting another event next month about employee retention, which Honeycutt says will inevitably touch on child care as well.