Gov. Kim Reynolds and Iowa Workforce Development have announced $14 million in new grant awards for Iowa businesses that are expanding child care projects for their employees.

The funding comes from the state’s Child Care Business Incentive (CCBI) Grant, which provides financial support for projects by employers that require new infrastructure for building child care centers in their communities. The grants will be used to support the expansion or new construction of child care and/or day care facilities for employees. The employer can serve as the child care provider or partner with a local child care provider.

The announced grants include $3.6 million in expanded funding for previous awardees of the CCBI Grant 1.0 (first awarded in 2022), as well as $10.4 million in funding for new projects in a 2.0 version of the grant. Combined, the projects supported by the funding are estimated to create nearly 875 new child care slots across the state.

“This child care grant is an outstanding example of how strong partnerships between employers and communities lead to innovative ideas to solving local child care issues,” Beth Townsend, executive director of Iowa Workforce Development, said in a prepared statement. “We hope these awards inspire other employers to seek out new collaborations in their community as well as to think outside the box in developing workable child care solutions for their employees.”

Projects that are located in high-demand areas for child care, planning to increase capacity for additional slots across multiple age groups or building on-site child care centers were prioritized when awarding funding.

To learn more about the program or view a full list of awardees, visit the Iowa Workforce Development website.