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Mark your calendar!
- Feb. 14 - Send your Montana legislators a quick electronic Valentine note reminding them to Have A Heart for Kids!
Upcoming Legislative Committees - March 4 & 5: Economic Affairs Interim Committee
- March 11: Education Interim Committee
- March 12 & 13: Children, Families, Health & Human Services Interim Committee
- March 13: Interim Budget Committee Section E (Education)
- March 18: Board of Public Education
Zero to Five Montana & Upcoming Partner Events - Montana Child Care Business Connect Tiny Trainings (see below for more info!)
- First Children's Finance Trainings (more info below!)
- March 6 - 7: Montana Chamber Blazing Trails: Montana Women in Business Summit
- April 5 -7: UM Early Childhood Education Summit (more info below)
- Aug. 7-8: Montana Child Care Business Connect Annual Summit in Helena! More info to come.
Making Connections
2024 is off to a busy start – Zero to Five Montana/Montana Child Care Business Connect has logged some miles presenting at a number of events, conferences, and legislative committees so far this year. A few highlights include:
- Alex DuBois participated in a child care discussion at the Montana Chamber’s Business Days at the Capitol event. Listen to the podcast on Voices of Montana
- Caitlin Jensen and Jason Nitschke presented at the Economic Affairs Interim Committee discussion on childcare and the workforce.
- Jason participated in the Rocky Mountain Women's Business Center quarterly board meeting.
- Rhonda Schwenke attended the Bipartisan Policy Center/U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Early Childhood & Business Advisory Council meeting in Idaho.
- Rhonda presented at the Montana Council of Cooperatives Annual Meeting in Great Falls.
- Caitlin presented on early childhood systems building at the Start Early National Home Visiting Summit in Washington D.C.
- Alex co-presented with Montana Cooperative Development Center on community-led child care solutions at the Montana Farmer’s Union Women’s Conference in Miles City (and she’s headed to this week’s event in Fairmont.)
UM Institute looking for ECE award nominations
The University of Montana Institute for Early Childhood Education would like to honor those individuals, teams, or organizations demonstrating excellence in early childhood education through research, model demonstration, and community outreach. They also are accepting nominations for the healthy start award and those eligible to be recognized for a lifetime achievement. Nominations will remain open through Thursday Feb, 29 and awardees and their nominators will be notified no later than March 8.
Awardees will be honored April 4 during the Institute for Early Childhood Education Summit keynote reception. Summit registration (free) and agenda information coming very soon! Learn more.
Joining forces with the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers
Zero to Five Montana is a proud member of the National Collaborative for Infants & Toddlers. Together, we're stronger, louder, and more impactful in championing the rights and well-being of infants, toddlers and their moms.
Learn more about the organization and how to join at www.ncit.org.
Community Capacity Building Cohort 3 | Now Accepting Applications!
Are you passionate about improving access to high-quality and affordable child care in your community? Montana Child Care Business Connect is thrilled to announce that applications are now open for our third community child care business capacity building cohort.
🎯 Our Goal: Engaging Communities, Empowering Solutions
Our program is all about engaging communities like yours in finding innovative solutions to increase the supply of high-quality and affordable child care. By mobilizing community members and empowering the creation of community-based solutions, we aim to preserve existing child care businesses and open up new child care slots.
🌟 Get Involved: Join forces with a Diverse Team!
We're inviting teams of invested community members, just like you, to embark on this exciting journey with us. We encourage a cross-sector collaboration, so gather an incredible mix of people representing local business leaders, community and civic organizations, economic development programs, child care programs, school districts, local government, city or county administrations, parents, and families.
🗓️ Program Details: March to August 2024
Our third cohort will run for six months, from March to August 2024. During this transformative period, community participants will actively work together to evaluate, enhance, establish, and expand both existing and new child care programs in your area.
📋 Application Window
Ready to make a difference? The application for cohort 3 is open until Feb. 16, 2024. Remember to use "Community Cohort Application" as the subject line when emailing your application to shelbyw@zerotofive.org.
B.E.A.R (Bitterroot Ecological Awareness Resources)
BEAR – Bitterroot Ecological Awareness Resources – is an outdoor based youth mentoring program that has been providing services for youth in the Bitterroot Valley for 30 years.
Their mission is to inspire youth to connect to their own potential, their community, and the landscape through experiential and outdoor adventure programs.
They offer after-school programs, day trips, overnight trips, 1:1 mentoring, peer mentoring, summer day and overnight trips, ropes course activities and educational programs or events.
Last year, the organization partnered with the Bitterroot Early Learning Network (Evergreen Kids Corner) to offer summer programming for youth aged 3-18 years old, providing needed services thanks to the funding from the ARPA Innovation and Infrastructure grant. BEAR launched the "Venture Out Junior" summer camp program in June, and provided consistent, fun and educational programs for 4th and 5th grade youth all summer long. They plan to offer similar programming this summer with the goal to reach more youth around the valley. BEAR thanks all of their amazing summer camp participants, leaders, the ARPA Innovation and Infrastructure Grant committee and Bitterroot Early Learning Network for making this happen!
We Want to Highlight Your Business!
We are currently in the process of featuring DPHHS Child Care Innovation and Infrastructure Grant recipients on our platforms to highlight the amazing work being done across Montana and we would like to extend an opportunity for you to showcase your business!
To feature your project and business, we kindly request that you provide us with the following information:
- Logo: Please provide us with a high-resolution version of your organization's logo. This will be used for branding purposes in our promotional materials.
- High-resolution photos: We would appreciate it if you could share high-quality images that showcase your project's progress. These visuals will be a great addition to our feature and help us tell your story effectively.
- Project description: Please provide us with a paragraph or two describing your project and its impact. We would love to hear about where you started, the progress you have made, and any notable achievements along the way. This will allow us to highlight your project effectively to our audience.
If your team is interested, please send the requested materials and information to Communications and Outreach Coordinator, Heide Borgonovo (heideb@zerotofive.org). If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.
Education & Events
SAVE THE DATE! | Business Accelerator Mentorship Program
Montana Child Care Business Connect is launching a program to support the growth of licensed/registered child care in Montana. This hybrid mentorship-business accelerator targets new and expanding licensed/registered child care operations across the state, providing a 6-month, intensive framework to help business owners start or grow their child care business. The program is free, thanks to a generous grant from Montana DPHHS, and includes business resources, ECP-compliant training, networking and support, and mini-grants to support your business!
To be eligible to mentor a business, you must have experience in small business start-up and operations (specific licensed/registered child care experience preferred but not required).
To be eligible to be a protégé and receive mentorship, you must be starting a new licensed/registered child care business in Montana (concept to first year of operations) or substantially growing an existing business.
If you are considering opening a new licensed/registered child care business, if you are significantly growing an existing child care operation, or if you want to mentor new business owners, consider applying today! Applications will be open February 15!
Contact Kendra Edlin if interested! (kendrae@zerotofive.org)
Tiny Trainings Series 4
- February 15 | Recruitment and Retention
- February 29 | Onboarding and Training Development
- March 14 | Performance Management
- March 28 | Conflict Resolution
- April 18 | Using Technology for Efficiency
All webinars will be via zoom from 1:30-2 p.m.
Recorded Webinars Available
Missed a Tiny Training webinar? Subscribe to our YouTube channel to access past recordings. Or, visit childcarebusinessconnect.com.
First Children's Finance Trainings
Feburary 22 | Developing a Marketing Plan for your Child Care Business
10:00am-1:00 PM | (more Center geared)
6:00-8:00 PM | (more FFN geared)
March 21 | Managing Enrollment in Your Child Care Facility
6:00-8:00 PM
April 23 | Developing Scholarship & Tuition Assistance Programs
6:30-8:30 PM
