Local early‑childhood provider offers employer‑driven childcare partnership to City of Goodyear

Goodyear — Theresa Christiansen, founder of Bright Beginnings Early Child Development Center, told the City Council on Aug. 25 that Goodyear needs to prioritize childcare infrastructure and offered to partner with the city and local employers to pilot employer‑driven childcare solutions.

Christiansen said she has worked nearly three decades at the intersection of early childhood development and workforce solutions and warned that without new approaches the fast growth of Goodyear could outpace childcare capacity. "The challenge is as the fastest growing cities in the West Valley, we have to keep up with the demand of supporting our families and our workforce, but we're not doing it," she said.

She proposed models that co‑fund dedicated childcare slots with employers, leverage existing state and federal funding, and retrain or repurpose existing infrastructure. Christiansen said those models can be employer‑driven and sustainable without a heavy reliance on new taxpayer spending; she offered the city a meeting to outline specific pilot proposals.

Council staff said the city clerk has her contact information and the manager agreed to set up a meeting. "I will, set up a meeting personally with you," the city manager said on the record.

Christiansen’s remarks were given in the public comment portion of the meeting and were not tethered to a formal agenda item; staff agreed to follow up to explore workforce‑driven childcare partnerships.