In CEI’s 2025 Fiscal Yr, Youngster Care Enterprise Lab alumni opened 15 new youngster care companies, supporting 377 youngsters. Registrations for the 2026 program shut January ninth.
BRUNSWICK — Now in its sixth yr of serving to individuals with a ardour for working with youngsters and households open their very own youngster care enterprise, the Youngster Care Enterprise Lab, a program of Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), celebrates the opening of 15 new youngster care suppliers throughout the state and seeks members for its upcoming 2026 cohort.
CEI’s Youngster Care Enterprise Lab Graduates Increase Entry to Youngster Care in Their Communities
From October 2024 via September 2025, CEI’s Youngster Care Enterprise Lab alums collectively opened 15 new youngster care companies licensed for a complete of 377 youngsters throughout the state. Collectively, these companies span eight counties, with one every in Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, 4 in York, and 5 in Androscoggin. Since launching in February 2020, the CEI Youngster Care Enterprise Lab has supported the opening of fifty youngster care suppliers licensed for a complete of 1,027 youngsters.
What differentiates the CEI Youngster Care Enterprise Lab from different comparable applications throughout the nation is that the programming is mannequin agnostic and believes that what works in a single group will not be proper for an additional group. As such, eight of the newly opened suppliers are home-based, six are heart primarily based, and one is a nursery college. The kid cares have a various vary of homeowners together with solo entrepreneurs, multi-person co-ops, nonprofits and tribal governments.
Youngster Care Enterprise House owners Are Driving Change in Their Communities
For a lot of members within the CEI Youngster Care Enterprise Lab, opening a toddler care entails studying model new abilities and navigating new processes. Katelyn Gervais of Jay, Maine, says, “CEI’s Youngster Care Enterprise Lab helped me understand that proudly owning my very own youngster care can develop into a actuality. I received assist with many duties resembling ensuring I’ve all of the paperwork required for licensing, creating handbooks for my youngster care, and even assist with getting a enterprise mortgage to make my desires come true! I’ve an open date for subsequent yr and couldn’t be extra excited to have gained the information and connections I’ve with CEI.”
Functions for 2026 Get Licensed Program Shut Jan ninth
All 15 companies accomplished the CEI Youngster Care Enterprise Lab’s Get Licensed program. New youngster care entrepreneurs face most of the identical challenges and dangers that different small enterprise house owners encounter, however with the added complexity of working in a extremely regulated surroundings. Youngster Care Enterprise Lab: Get Licensed is a no-cost group-based program that empowers entrepreneurs to open a profitable youngster care service. Along with making ready their license utility, members will full a marketing strategy, three-year monetary forecast, and youngster care insurance policies. To help the monetary sustainability of the brand new enterprise, members will even obtain free, ongoing, one-on-one enterprise advising. People who find themselves taken with opening a home-based youngster care enterprise (household youngster care) or a facility in a business area are each eligible to take part. Most workshops are performed stay through Zoom with two in-person studying days.
Individuals taken with incomes their license can take part within the subsequent Youngster Care Enterprise Lab: Get Licensed cohort, beginning April 2026. members should full this system registration type at www.cognitoforms.com/CEIMaine/JoinCCBL by January ninth, 2026, at 5:00pm. Extra data is obtainable at https://www.ceimaine.org/child-care
About CEI
Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) is a Neighborhood Improvement Monetary Establishment and 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to construct a extra equitable economic system by rising good jobs, livelihoods and small enterprise possession, whereas advancing a simply transition to a climate-resilient future. CEI integrates finance, enterprise experience, and coverage options in ways in which make the economic system work extra equitably.
CEI designed the Youngster Care Enterprise Lab with assist from Maine Roads to High quality, the Maine Division of Well being and Human Providers Workplace of Youngster and Household Providers Kids’s Licensing and Investigation Providers, and the Maine Affiliation for the Schooling of Younger Kids. Throughout its 48-year historical past, CEI has suggested and/or supplied over $19 million in financing to greater than 300 youngster care companies, serving to to create or protect greater than 6,000 youngster care slots.
For extra data, go to www.ceimaine.org.
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