Early Childhood Financial Resiliency Accelerator Program
In 2021, the Arlington Chamber of Commerce launched our Early Childhood Financial Resiliency Accelerator program in partnership with 20 Degrees. This program focused on teaching child care providers the business and financial skills necessary to maintain and grow their businesses.
The program aimed to support County goals of meeting the critical need for child care in Arlington. According to a study done by Arlington County in 2017, there were enough child care slots to serve less than half of Arlington’s children under the age of five. Since Arlington County began its Child Care Initiative in 2019, child care availability has still fallen well short of demand.
Program participants received cohort-based training and individual coaching sessions with customized action plans. The training covered topics including marketing, scenario planning, budgeting and cash flow management, and workplace wellness. By prioritizing community building within the cohort, providers gained a supportive network with their cohort members. Providers who completed the program also received a stipend for participating.
Following the program, 73% of cohort participants said that they felt more comfortable with the financial position of their center in the next six months than they did before participating. The program focused on topics including marketing, scenario planning, budgeting, and cash flow management. Helping early childhood education providers to sustain their businesses was a major goal of the program, and 68% felt more comfortable thinking about their program’s finances across the next 12-24 months because of what they learned. By contrast, only 29% of participants felt comfortable with their center’s finances before participating in the cohort.
The Early Childhood Financial Resiliency Accelerator was initially launched in 2020 in Montgomery County, Maryland by 20 Degrees and the Arlington Cohort that took place in November 2021 was the first in Virginia. The program’s first Arlington cohort was available at no cost to the participants thanks to support from Presenting Sponsor Amazon as well as the PNC Foundation.
The program aimed to support County goals of meeting the critical need for child care in Arlington. According to a study done by Arlington County in 2017, there were enough child care slots to serve less than half of Arlington’s children under the age of five. Since Arlington County began its Child Care Initiative in 2019, child care availability has still fallen well short of demand.
Program participants received cohort-based training and individual coaching sessions with customized action plans. The training covered topics including marketing, scenario planning, budgeting and cash flow management, and workplace wellness. By prioritizing community building within the cohort, providers gained a supportive network with their cohort members. Providers who completed the program also received a stipend for participating.
Following the program, 73% of cohort participants said that they felt more comfortable with the financial position of their center in the next six months than they did before participating. The program focused on topics including marketing, scenario planning, budgeting, and cash flow management. Helping early childhood education providers to sustain their businesses was a major goal of the program, and 68% felt more comfortable thinking about their program’s finances across the next 12-24 months because of what they learned. By contrast, only 29% of participants felt comfortable with their center’s finances before participating in the cohort.
The Early Childhood Financial Resiliency Accelerator was initially launched in 2020 in Montgomery County, Maryland by 20 Degrees and the Arlington Cohort that took place in November 2021 was the first in Virginia. The program’s first Arlington cohort was available at no cost to the participants thanks to support from Presenting Sponsor Amazon as well as the PNC Foundation.
For more information or questions about the program, read our press release or contact the Chamber at chamber@arlingtonchamber.org or (703) 525-2400.
