Business Navigator
The Business Navigator
Child care is an economic issue. Through the collaborative efforts of Early Care & Learning Council (ECLC), the Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) network, and the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs), the strategic rollout of The Business Navigator will connect businesses with child care services and focus on understanding the needs of both businesses and employees, navigating economic and logistical considerations, accessing tax benefits, and delivering resources that can be meaningful in a variety of circumstances across the state.
The Business Navigator will provide business leaders with key strategies that they can use to support caregivers, along with tools to support implementation. Employers in New York State who are seeking to deliver a child care strategy that focuses on the specific needs of their employees, and provides a strong return on their investments, will find the essential resources, case studies, and regional contacts to begin this process, or augment a plan already in place.
Employer-sponsored child care is an investment in the workforce that can yield significant returns. Providing employer-sponsored child care solutions can reduce turnover, increase productivity, attract talent, reduce absenteeism, and enhance the overall workplace culture.
The Business Navigator will be an invaluable resource for businesses across the state to better support their employees in aligning their work responsibilities and caregiving needs. This alignment is essential for businesses to stay strong and competitive, while also safeguarding equitable economic opportunities for employees.
The Business Navigator is designed to help employers understand their employees’ child care needs and connect them with employee benefits, HR services, other child care resources, and relevant tax credits. The Toolkit provides data to child care providers on where the areas of child care needs are the greatest. Additionally, it will support parents in guiding them to find available child care.
Visit the Business Navigator Website to Request a Digital Guidebook
Our live events offer physical copies of the guidebook, presentations from our team, and opportunities to learn from our experts. Can’t make it to a live event? You can still access the information digitally on the Business Navigator website. You can even request a digital version of the guidebook.
Employer’s Guide to Child Care Solutions in New York State
“Governor Hochul will establish a Business Navigator program in each of the 10 Regional Economic Development Council regions to help interested businesses identify options to support employees’ child care needs, and will also develop a statewide employer child care guidebook, making good on another one of the State task force’s recommendations.”
— 2023 State of the State press release
The Business Navigator Toolkit is funded by the Office of Children and Family Services, created by Early Care & Learning Council, and supported by 10 leading Child Care Resource Centers.
Watch the Live Launch Recording
Live launches of the Business Navigator occurred across New York from December 2024 to February 2025. You can watch the recording below from the Long Island region to hear from the experts who spoke there.
Project Timeline
JUNE 2024 – AUGUST 2024 | SEPTEMBER 2024 – NOVEMBER 2024 | DECEMBER 2024 – FEBRUARY 2025 |
|---|---|---|
Awareness Campaign: Introductory
Presentations at REDC Meetings
Employer Survey – Identify NY State
Employers who are Child Care Champions. | Pre-Launch Webinars: An Introduction to
the Business Navigator Toolkit for New
York State Employers. | LIVE Launch of Business Navigator
Toolkit within the 10 Regional Economic
Development Council regions across NYS. |
Contact your local CCRC for more
information and to schedule a regional
Introductory Presentation. | Contact ECLC or your local CCRC for more
information about webinar dates and times. | Contact ECLC or your local CCRC for more
information about the LIVE Launch of the
Business Navigator Toolkit in your REDC—
including dates, times and venues. |
Regional Contacts for More Information
REDC | CCRC AGENCY | CONTACT | EMAIL & PHONE |
|---|---|---|---|
Western New York | Child Care Resource Network | Kim Suminski, CEO | ksuminski@wnychildren.org
(716) 877-6666 ext. 3023 |
Finger Lakes | Child Care Council, Inc. | Jeff Pier,
CEO | j.pier@childcarecouncil.com
(585) 654-4727 |
Southern Tier | Family Enrichment Network, Inc. | Jenn Perney,
Child Care Resource
and Referral Director | jperney@familyenrichment.org
(607) 723-8313 ext. 872 |
Central New York | Child Care Solutions | Anne Napper,
Executive Director | annen@childcaresolutionscny.org
(315) 446-1220 ext. 310 |
Central New York | Integrated Community Planning
of Oswego County, Inc. | Brandy Koproski,
Executive Director | bkoproski@icpoc.org
(315) 343-2344 ext. 119 |
Mohawk Valley | Cornell Cooperative Extension
Oneida County | Richelle Singer,
Child Care Council Director | rfs35@cornell.edu
(315) 223-7850 ext. 223 |
North Country | Child Care Coordinating Council
of the North Country | Kelley Gangi,
CCRR Training
& TA Coordinator | kgangi@ccccnc.org
(518) 561-4999 |
Capital Region | Brightside Up, Inc. | Abbe Kovacik,
Executive Director | akovacik@brightsideup.org
(518) 426-7181 ext. 323 |
Mid-Hudson | Child Care Council of Westchester, Inc. | Kathy Halas,
Executive Director | kathyh@cccwny.org
(914) 761-3456 ext. 102 |
Mid-Hudson | Child Care Council of Dutchess
and Putnam, Inc. | Kathleen Murphy
Grants and Business
Coordinator | kmurphy@childcaredutchess.org
(845) 473-4141 ext. 224 |
New York City | Day Care Council of New York, Inc. | Mary Gamory,
Chief Program Officer | mgamory@dccnyinc.org
(212) 206-7818 |
Long Island | Child Care Council of Suffolk, Inc. | Jennifer Rojas,
Executive Director | jrojas@childcaresuffolk.org
(631) 462-0303 |
Contact Information
Fred Arcuri, Economic Development Liaison with ECLC’s Business Navigator Team, can be reached at frederick.arcuri@gmail.com.
For more information about the Business Navigator Toolkit, contact ECLC’s Associate Executive Director of Strategy & Vision, Jeannie Thomma, at jthomma@earlycareandlearning.org.