Discussion about childcare services

One of the biggest questions Janesville’s Economic Development Authority has been asking is how to make sufficient childcare services for area families.

According to Ivan Maas, a council representative of the group, they had an owner of a childcare facility in Cleveland speak on her experience.

“She started in Madison Lake doing childcare there,” Maas explained to the council. “She did childcare in several different locations, but was always under a board of directors. It got to the point where she couldn’t work with them. They didn’t have the same focus she did.”

It was at that point when the speaker explained to the EDA she decided to take some time off and consider another opportunity. She decided to start fresh and create a childcare facility in Cleveland, her hometown.

“She talked to some people and was told to go visit a gentleman,” Maas continued. “She did and presented what she wanted to do to him.”

Luckily, the gentleman was able to cover some of her expenses, and he referred her to his banker for the rest. After creating a building, she was able to serve 50 kids with the help of the community. “That was four years ago,” Maas said. “Now, the building serves 100 kids with double the size.”

According to him, she claimed that she receives help from Cleveland residents, namely older ladies in the community, who come in to help rock the babies. “She was very knowledgeable,” he said. “She helped Lake Crystal start a daycare center.”

It wasn’t as easy as making a building and then serving locals, though. “She has over a million dollars in this thing,” Maas explained. “She said that if it weren’t for the people that helped her get it going and her husband having a great job to be able to support her, she wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

The EDA asked great questions, and there was good dialog. “One thing that came out of that is after she left, we started talking about what a daycare in Janesville should look like and where it should be placed,” he claimed. “The idea was to work with a contractor or developer, put up a multistory building, and make the bottom floor usable by the city for the library/community center and childcare.”

However, there was a problem that was brought up during the discussion. “There is no place in the main part of town for something like that to be located. It has to be closer to residential sections.”

Council member Melissa Kopachek pointed out that the city rezoned its business district a few years ago. “It used to only be from the Purple Goose to the Post Office,” she added. “Didn’t we expand it?”

Maas acknowledged this change but retorted, “I’m mostly referring to the space needed for the building and parking. If you have something that size, if you have floors above it, you’ll take up more space than you think.”

With the increasing demand for childcare and a community center, the EDA and the city are looking to utilize more resources to find the best solution for Janesville.