Jan. 29, 2024

Corri Poore entered the child care field for the same reason many do: the birth of his own child.

“He was born, and it just seemed like the right thing to do to give him the best experience possible when it came to his early childhood years,” he said. “I was totally an amateur, but that was the vision behind it all.”

Then came his twins, “who are now 13, and I obviously wanted to provide the same thing for them,” he said.

Along the way, he has gone from an in-home child care provider to the owner of three Little Tykes University locations throughout Sioux Falls – and a vision for an even bigger presence.

“My original number for financial independence was I needed to see 100 children come through my doors,” Poore said. “I haven’t hit it yet, but we’re rushing at that goal and have all the capacity in the world to do that and then some.”

A group of community organizations and nonprofits is hoping the Sioux Falls area is filled with dozens more aspiring entrepreneurs such as Poore.

After receiving a $31,500 planning grant from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development funded through federal pandemic-related relief money, the following entities are banning together to tackle new solutions for a persistent problem:

• Startup Sioux Falls
• Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota
• Helpline Center
• Sioux Falls Thrive/Childcare Collaborative
• City of Sioux Falls
• Sioux Falls Development Foundation

The request from GOED, which is positioned to fund an implementation phase for the group if approved, was “to partner with multiple agencies, brainstorm, come up with ideas, and as part of that, GOED said economic development organizations were the preferred applicant,” said Mike Gray, director of business development for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.

The partners are tackling multiple efforts such as programming to provide business training for entrepreneurs, including multilingual entrepreneurs, and improved technology to allow the Helpline Center to better monitor availability at existing child care providers.

The plans are based on some of the recommendations in a report produced by Sioux Falls Thrive and the area Childcare Collaborative.

Entrepreneurs would be able to participate in a specially designed version of the CO.STARTERS program offered by Startup Sioux Falls or a similar program that would be tailored through LSS to address the unique needs of multilingual founders.

“We think it really provides people with a foundation for starting a business,” said Sara Lum, vice president of Startup Sioux Falls, calling the training for child care founders “one of the missing pieces in our ecosystems.”

During both a shorter boot camp and the 10-week accelerator, entrepreneurs would learn business fundamentals in addition to the more specific guidance needed in child care – everything from state licensing to city regulations.

At LSS, the content would be further enhanced to go over CPR and first-aid training in addition to a broader initial orientation ahead of the CO.STARTERS course. The hope is that all founders completing the courses could receive some funding toward startup costs of a child care business, the partners said.

Already, there are some multilingual child care business owners, “and it has been growing over the past decade or so,” LSS education program coordinator Laura Smith-Hill said.

“There’s also an appetite for mothers who want to be at home with their kids but also need to earn an income … so that’s another niche we’re looking to support and give the tools to make a difference.”

There has been “a great increase in homeownership in the refugee and immigrant population in Sioux Falls,” she added, opening up opportunities for in-home centers, including in rental homes if landlords approve.

Addressing the child care challenges “requires many different strategies coming together in a collaborative effort,” Mayor Paul TenHaken said, calling the accelerators one viable solution to make an impact.

“This innovative approach supplies more child care spots in the market in a sustainable way,” he said in a statement. “We are grateful to the state of South Dakota for the opportunity to apply for funds through the community-based child care grant program alongside several partners. We hope using funds for an initiative like this will give more entrepreneurs the opportunity to gain the necessary tools to start a business while easing some of the challenges in this industry.”

For Poore, who went through the broader CO.STARTERS program in 2021, “the takeoff has been phenomenal” since completing it, he said.

“I can’t even put into words what can happen. It’s been dreamlike in some ways. It was a renaissance for me. It woke me up.”

In addition to learning about building his business plans, learning about things like a SWOT analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and KPIs, or key performance indicators, the biggest impact came from meeting and learning from more established Sioux Falls business owners, Poore said.

“The biggest piece was I learned there’s nothing different from me than these other people. And it was time to put the rubber to the road and make it happen.”

Startup Sioux Falls and LSS will be holding focus groups in February to learn from interested child care entrepreneurs about what they’re looking for in a business accelerator program and use that information as they apply for the state’s implementation grant, which could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional resources.

Regardless, there will be at least one cohort at Startup Sioux Falls, which is being supported financially by The Bancorp.

Startup Sioux Falls will hold focus groups from 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 18 and 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 20. To submit your interest, click here.

To learn more about the LSS program, call 605-731-2000 or stop in the Fishback Campus for Opportunity, 300 E. Sixth St. There will be three focus groups held there Feb. 21, but participants are asked to sign up first.

As for Poore, he’s continuing to think big, eventually envisioning an even greater child care location that blends nearby housing with elements such as a community garden.

“I see this as a real opportunity to reimagine child care,” he said. “If we figure out ways to put a lot of things together, this doesn’t need to be a crisis forever. We need to sit down and think outside the mold. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. So it’s time for us to do something different.”