Overview

Although Shelby County has childcare options, including homes, registered unlicensed ministries, and center-based programming, only 8 of the total 1,537 infants and toddlers are currently enrolled in a designated high-quality care environment (e.g., Early Head Start), leaving 98% of our community's youngest children without access to a designated high-quality early care and education environment. Often times, Shelby County residents most negatively impacted by the pandemic, low income residents whose work requires in-person attendance, are disproportionately impacted by this lack of quality childcare.Inadequate access to childcare is a major hindrance to the attraction of talent to the region and is often a barrier to workforce entry for local unemployed residents. The City of Shelbyville and Early Learning Shelby County (ELSC) are combining resources to acquire a stand-alone childcare facility to be strategically located in Shelbyville’s Tech Park. The City of Shelbyville and ELSC have committed $3 million and $2 million to the project, respectively. Construction of the project is slated to begin in the fall of 2022 and will be complete in the fall of 2023. ELSC, a non-profit organization, will own the center and Bright Horizons will serve as the provider after the acquisition of the completed building. READI dollars will be utilized to help acquire the facility through the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) procurement process.