By Holly Riddle
For working parents, childcare is typically non-negotiable. However, for many Happy Valley professionals, finding that childcare is easier said than done — leaving some to wonder if they should forgo their career plans and stay home with the kiddos, while others worry for the futures of their entrepreneurial endeavors.
“People started warning us about the childcare situation in the area pretty early on,” said Ellen Matis, founder of Hello Social Co. “I was four months pregnant and people said we had to get on a list for daycare.”
Matis and her husband, Sean Yoder, did put their now-toddler daughter on “many” daycare waitlists, but by the time she was several months old, the couple still hadn’t found a feasible option.
Top talent in our area, people with really creative ideas, want to run businesses, but can’t because they have to make this choice between their business or their kid. That’s going to have a huge ripple effect on our entire community.
Hiring a nanny was, for a while, necessary for Christian Baum, founder of GivLocal. At first, Baum and his wife mitigated the risks of sending their son to childcare while Covid-19 cases were still relatively high, by hiring three, in-home nannies. Once they were ready to enroll their son in daycare, they had a spot lined up and then, at the last minute, were told that the spot was no longer available. Finally, after near-endless hassles and frustrations, the two found an opening.
As for Emma Ostler, who works remotely from her home in Bellefonte for a healthcare company, the hurdles to finding affordable childcare are so great that she and her husband, who also works remotely, have decided to balance childcare and work on their own.
A potential new solution?
Ann Walker, executive administrator at the Child Development and Family Council of Centre County, Inc., clarifies that Centre County is not considered a childcare desert, which is defined as “any census tract with more than 50 children under age 5 that contains either no child care providers or so few options that there are more than three times as many children as licensed child care slots.”
However, Walker does agree that this is an area where parents may struggle to get the care that they need, and it’s often due to staffing issues.
Of course, without childcare, parents often can’t work. When parents can’t work, economic and business growth is slowed.
As Matis said, “Top talent in our area, people with really creative ideas, want to run businesses, but can’t because they have to make this choice between their business or their kid. That’s going to have a huge ripple effect on our entire community.”
There’s nothing like this here, Nittany Nannies is the first and only nanny agency in our area.
This issue is one that was apparent to Sarah Kuchta, who told HappyValley Industry, “We have five children, so when we had our twins 10 months ago, I realized I needed serious childcare help. I had a very hard time finding nanny options in our area. Finding reliable babysitters in general is hard.”
Rather than struggle with the issue and try to make things work however possible, though, Kuchta saw an opportunity. She asked herself, “Why not create an agency to solve this problem?”
In January, Kuchta founded Nittany Nannies Co., a nanny agency based in State College and helping professionals who are also parents find reliable and retainable babysitters.
Nittany Nannies offers four services: on-demand sitters for date nights and occasional care, on-site sitting for tailgates or at Airbnbs, and both part-time and full-time nannies. Kuchta said her key customers are the many professionals who are also parents in the area and who are, by nature, busy and need that reliable and dependable childcare.
“There’s nothing like this here,” she added. “Nittany Nannies is the first and only nanny agency in our area. There is a high demand for childcare and always will be. We take the time to listen to the specific needs and preferences for each family. This level of customization is appealing to families in Happy Valley, who value individualized care for their children.”
In the future, Kuchta hopes to serve families outside of Centre County as well.
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