State of Colorado
On Tuesday, the Colorado Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) announced a new initiative to support child care providers across the state at every stage of business.
The SBDC is a division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT).
“Child care is essential to strengthening our workforce and economy while supporting families. This new initiative is giving providers more of the support they need while expanding opportunities for Colorado families. I look forward to seeing the impact of this work in our communities,” said Gov. Jared Polis.
“Access to child care is critical for working parents and an essential part of a thriving economy. By providing child care providers with no-cost training and advising, we can help them take steps to start and grow their businesses while ensuring more families have access to quality child care,” said OEDIT Executive Director Eve Lieberman.
The Essential Business Skills for Child Care Administrators program pairs an expert-designed child care curriculum with no-cost, confidential one-on-one advising and no- to low-cost training to help child care professionals confidently start, grow or exit their child care business.
New and existing child care administrators, home-based child care businesses, and individuals interested in starting a child care business can all benefit from the program, which is currently available on-demand with in-person and hybrid events starting in January 2026.
The program comes in response to the Colorado Shines Brighter Needs Assessment, which identified opportunities to improve knowledge and support around child care licensing and offer essential business support to child care providers.
Various Colorado SBDC locations will offer the Essential Business Skills for Child Care Administrators program, including:
• Four on-demand child care business modules focused on general business, financial management and marketing at no cost.
• Four one-on-one confidential advising sessions with Colorado SBDC advisors at no cost.
• Access to a series of supplemental business tools, training programs and resources at no or low cost.
For more information about the Essential Business Skills for Child Care Administrators program and information on how to register for training and advising, visit the Colorado SBDC Child Care webpage at sbdc.colorado.gov/child-care.