Dubuque Initiatives and Greater Dubuque Development Host Grand Opening Celebration of Bright Minds Campus

On Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 3:00 p.m., Dubuque Initiatives and Greater Dubuque Development will host a grand opening celebration of the Bright Minds Campus, formerly known as the Medline Building, at 7900 Chavenelle Road. Business and community leaders are invited to the event. Earlier in the day, Governor Kim Reynolds will visit Dubuque to tour the Bright Minds Campus and meet with representatives of Dubuque Initiatives, Greater Dubuque Development, the Dubuque YMCA, and Dubuque Community Schools.

“Bright Minds is a true game-changer. Working parents at participating employers now have access to 120 new childcare slots, with capacity to grow to 225, and flexible options for families whose needs are less predictable,” said Governor Reynolds. “By supporting a local strategy with a $2 million dollar state investment through the Child Care Business Incentive program, Bright Minds is a shining example of what’s possible with strong public-private partnerships.”

The afternoon program will include announcements on collaborative efforts amongst the public and private sectors to bolster county-wide child care capacity and access. Most significantly, Business Champions of Child Care will be recognized, a consortium of regional employers, who have stepped up to match a 2:1 State grant, creating a the Child Care Solutions Fund of over $1.3 million for a multi-year program to enhance support for our child care workforce.

The Business Champions of Child Care to date include: City of Dubuque, Dupaco Community Credit Union, HODGE, Medline Industries, Inc., Progressive Processing/Hormel Foods, Q Casino, Rite-Hite, Theisen Supply, Inc., UnityPoint Health-Finley Hospital, Woodward Communications, Inc., and anonymous donors. A multi-year, six-figure pledge to the fund from John Deere will be announced at the event.

Recipients of the first phase of Child Care Solutions Fund grant awards will also be announced. The Child Care Solutions Fund, administered in partnership with Exceptional Persons, Inc and Child Care Resource & Referral of Northeast Iowa, is designed to assist child care providers in implementing innovative recruitment and retention efforts to increase the number of trained child care professionals working in the county. To date, $621,816.86 has been allocated across sixteen eligible Dubuque County child care providers to enhance wages and support the anticipating hiring of 141 new child care professionals which will create the opportunity for offering 516 new child care slots in Dubuque county. 

Following a brief program, those attending the celebration can tour the Bright Minds Campus to explore the new Dubuque YMCA Early Learning Center and the in-progress Dubuque Community Schools’ Seedlings Preschool. YOU can be great here because of world-class child care.