REAP served as Fiscal agent and Consensus Council Bush Innovation Grant provided grant funding for the project.
Following article reprinted with permission from Basin Today, Basin Electric Power Cooperative
Basin Electric helps establish child care center in Mercer County
By Angela Magstadt – Basin Electric Power Cooperative – 01/5/17
Energy Capital Cooperative Child Care, the nonprofit entity establishing the facility, has already made some great strides in its development, including naming a board of directors and securing a location – the former New Bethel Congregational Church.
For working parents, finding the right child care is one of the most important decisions they will ever make. Entrusting your child to someone is a huge leap of faith to begin with, but when there is a lack of child care in the area where you live, it makes going to work difficult, and sometimes even impossible.
A recent study has shown a deficiency of nearly 300 child care spaces in Mercer County, and according to the study, this will increase by more than 20 percent by 2025. Because of Basin Electric’s dedication to community and its employees, it took the bull by the horns and set out to remedy this problem – and do it quickly.
Plans for a child care center in Mercer County began less than a year ago, and before long, seven other area employers joined Basin Electric in forming a cooperative that would own and operate a child care facility in Hazen.
These partners include:
- Basin Electric/Dakota Gasification Company
- Sakakawea Medical Center
- North American Coal Corporation, representing the Coteau Properties Company and Coyote Creek Mining Company
- Union State Bank
- Knife River Care Center
- Coal Country Community Health Centers
- Coyote Station
- Hazen Public Schools
Energy Capital Cooperative Child Care, the nonprofit entity establishing the facility, has already made some great strides in its development, including naming a board of directors and securing a location – the former New Bethel Congregational Church.
“This location was just perfect,” says Erin Huntimer, project coordinations representative for Basin Electric. “Members of the church wanted to leave a lasting legacy in the community, so knowing the building will still be filled with kids and life makes this a win-win situation for everyone involved.”
The child care facility, which will be known as the New Bethel Center, will operate as a co-op and parents whose children attend the center will be its members. The parent-members will elect a board to determine the strategic direction and educational offerings, and oversee the work of the director.
Some of its other features will include:
- It will be a licensed child care center with an initial capacity of 61 full-time children.
- Its partners will have guaranteed spots for their employees. The spots taken by employer parents will be paid by those parents, while empty spots will be paid for by the employer until they are filled or re-assigned to other employers or the community. Employees of Basin Electric/Dakota Gas will have 12-15 spots.
- It will offer extended hours of operation to accommodate shift-working parents.
- It will offer affordable tuition in the range of $140-160 a week, or an hourly rate of $3.50.
Operations are set to begin in the first quarter of 2017, but there is still work to be done, including hiring staff, renovating the site and developing a parent handbook and bylaws.
“The volunteer spirit of the Hazen community and Mercer County as a whole is pretty darn remarkable,” Huntimer says. “There has never been a licensed facility of this size in Mercer County. Once it is up and running, we’ll have a model we will be able to share with our other members.”
