I am the CareerForce Workforce Strategy Consultant for Northeast Minnesota and I’m working with the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and other regional organizations to help address the area’s growing needs for quality child care. 

The Duluth Partnership on Child Care has just sent out a survey to Northeast Minnesota area employers and parents to hear about real life child care challenges and learn about potential solutions. 

The survey will help define what and where the needs are – and collect ideas for potential solutions. We’re encouraging employers looking to grow their workforce in this tight labor market to share child care-related barriers to employing the workers they need and what could be ways to break down those barriers. We also need to hear from parents needing quality child care in order to fully engage in the workforce. 

We need to hear from as many employers and parents who live or work in Duluth as possible in order to help create solutions to the child care shortage, which is negatively impacting the area economy and our ability to attract families to Duluth and the surrounding area. The survey closes October 31.