N.C. Commerce's Child Care Business Liaison, Samantha Cole, works with businesses, local communities, and philanthropic organizations to develop strategies and resources to help employers provide child care support to their employees.

Announced in December of 2023 as a grant-funded position at Commerce with support from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and Invest Early NC, the Child Care Business Liaison role was created under the state’s economic development plan as a means of addressing the insufficient supply of high quality and affordable child care in North Carolina.

Child Care and Empowering Work in North Carolina

Thousands of parents of young children in North Carolina are on the sidelines of our workforce, limiting economic opportunity for their families and holding our economy back.

A new report from N.C. Commerce and NC Child assesses the number of prime-age adults who could potentially participate in our labor market, the impact these new entrants would have on our state economy, and how child care solutions could enable this growth. Even after accounting for parents who prefer to stay out of the workforce to care for their children, this report indicates substantial possible economic impacts of adding working-age adults with young children to the labor force and illustrates how child care policy can support sustained economic growth in North Carolina.

Read the full report here.