Chamber’s K2J Program Creates Talent Pipelines for Early Childhood Education

What happened: Educators from Rogers Public Schools recently attended the Chamber’s K2J (Kindergarten to Job) program, presented by Glad Manufacturing Company, in partnership with Child Care Aware of NWA to learn about career pathways in early childhood education.

Why it matters: Childcare access and affordability is impacting our members’ ability to hire and retain talent. Creating talent pipelines for these careers is vital to keeping our region thriving in the near and distant future.

Dig deeper: K2J brings together businesses, educators, and students to highlight careers across the NWA region. The goal is to create talent pipelines for in-demand fields.

By the numbers: Over 16,000 childcare facilities have permanently closed since 2019 reducing availability and increasing costs for working parents.

• An estimated 25% of the female workforce has left the job market citing lack of childcare options as the main reason. Increasing the talent pipeline of students into future childcare workers and facility owners will help alleviate rising costs and increase options for parents thereby easing some pressure off of the ongoing labor shortage.