NEW RIVER VALLEY, Va. – The United Way of Southwest Virginia is pushing for a development initiative called Ready SWVA to help the workforce recover after the pandemic.
“Our goal is to get people back to work,” Travis Staton, CEO of United Way Southwest Virginia.
United Way Southwest Virginia CEO Travis Staton said there’s a large need for childcare services.
Staton said roughly 7,000 children could be served if there was adequate childcare.
“Now it’s impacting people in the standpoint of getting them back in the workforce.”
Staton says part of the initiative is to get financial assistance through the American Rescue Plan Act
The money used would help fund five new regional childcare centers near the community colleges that would serve about 21 counties in the Southwest Virginia Region.
The idea is to help parents have adequate childcare, remain employed, as well as have the opportunity to learn a skill.
“The return on our investment, investing early in childhood education is far larger return than later in the continuum, not only are we helping with talent attraction and business recruitment, we are also investing in our future workforce.”
Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet said having daycare facilities is vital for the workforce.
“It allows for our employers to have the workforce they need to continue to operate but also for that payroll to be infused back into the community,” Sweet said.
United Way says creating 5 new facilities would in total cost about $30 million.
They said falf of the money would come federal and state, and the other half would come from businesses in the private sector.