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Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from the tri-state area. In addition to this update from Garnavillo, Iowa, we will share other developments in Tuesday’s edition.
A child care center in Garnavillo recently completed a sizeable expansion.
Garnavillo Community Daycare last week opened an expanded facility, connected to the current center at 205 W. Watson St., which will increase the capacity by nearly 30 children.
“We added four classrooms for younger children, and we added a kitchen and a handicapped-accessible restroom,” said Business Director Lisa Robinson. “Now, we’re using our former classrooms for our school-age children, so we’re able to have more space for our before- and after-school care and our summertime programs.”
Robinson said the center was founded in 2003 and has been using space originally purchased from Clayton Ridge Community School District. She added that the district allowed Garnavillo Community Daycare to purchase the land adjacent to its original center “at a greatly reduced price” to help launch the expansion.
In early 2022, the center received a $387,250 grant from Iowa Workforce Development and Iowa Department of Human Services to fund the expansion. Robinson said a capital campaign, fundraisers and other grants from local and regional organizations helped cover the more than $700,000 project.
Construction on the expansion began in June and wrapped up in December.
The center serves children from 6 weeks to 12 years of age, and the expansion allows it to increase the capacity from 45 to 74 children. Robinson noted that the center doubled the number of slots available for children younger than 2, from eight to 16.
“When we wrote the grant, we had a waiting list of over 25 children … and we were getting weekly calls looking to place children in day care,” she said. “(This project) has made us possible to accept a number of the children on our waiting list. We still have a waiting list, but it has decreased.”
The center currently employs eight full-time and six part-time workers, with plans to expand that number in the coming weeks.
The center can be reached at 563-964-9333.