OPINION: Continued public investment in child care is key to small business success
By Sam Hooper
In order to grow our small businesses and better support working families in Vermont, we need to keep making progress on child care. As the owner of Vermont Glove in Randolph, I’m seeing firsthand the positive impact public investment in affordable, quality child care is having on our children, the workforce, and our state’s economy.
Here’s the hard truth: We’ve made real childcare progress over the past couple of years, but we’re far from finished. My ask in this critical moment –
when our state faces significant challenges in so many areas – is that we continue building on our childcare progress.
At Vermont Glove, we manufacture high-quality leather work gloves for the trade sector and consumers right here in the Green Mountain State. We’re a fast-growing company with a small team. We have 12 employees in production, and that means for us to compete with larger glove companies around the world, we must have a consistent, reliable and skilled workforce.
When we hire, it takes three months to train staff. Because of this significant investment of time and energy, we put a lot of resources into employee retention to keep those employees on our team. As an employer, I am always thinking about my employees’ access to quality, affordable childcare, because a lack of access to childcare is one of the main barriers that too often causes parents to miss work or leave the workforce altogether. Like every small business, it would be impossible for us to operate a childcare program for our employees on our own, nor could we afford to cover our employees’ childcare expenses.
For years, Vermont has struggled to meet the demand for quality,affordable child care – but through hard work, new public policy and thoughtful leadership, we’re starting to turn a corner, and this small business owner is relieved and grateful.
In 2023, I joined dozens of other employers from around the state in calling on our lawmakers to step in and address the childcare crisis. They listened, and Act 76 was passed. The law is now investing significant public funding
into our childcare system. In just over a year, Act 76 has helped create 1,000 childcare spaces and has led to over 90 new childcare programs opening. New public funding is also lowering childcare costs for thousands of families – including for my employees.
As childcare programs stabilize, expand, and improve quality, the Vermont Glove team comes to work with more confidence their children are safe, cared for, and getting prepared for a strong start in elementary school. We are more productive and are better able to plan for the future.
It’s stories like ours that show just how inseparable childcare access is from workforce development and the ability of small businesses to thrive in our state. We’re making progress, but it’s clear we have more work to do to fully solve this crisis. There are still childcare deserts across the state where families are struggling to access and afford child care, many programs are still facing staffing challenges that limit their capacity, and many businesses are still struggling to hire and retain employees as a result.
Right now, as lawmakers are making crucial budget decisions for Fiscal Year 2026, they owe it to Vermonters to stay true to the commitment they made through Act 76 and bring us closer to fixing our broken childcare system. We are just beginning to turn a corner, to stabilize and expand our child care sector so that it can actually meet the needs of our state. This is the time to build on that progress.
I urge our lawmakers to do the right thing for Vermont children, families, and businesses and continue investing in child care in the FY26 state budget.
Sam Hooper is the owner of Vermont Glove in Randolph.