Greater Dubuque Development outlines child care expansion, funding and partnerships

At a special session of the Dubuque City Council on April 21, 2025, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation President and CEO Rick Dickinson and Director of Workforce Programming Nick Hockenberry briefed the council on a regional effort to expand child care access that organizers say combines state grants, private philanthropy and employer donations.

The update focused on the “Business Champions of Childcare” grant program, facility build‑outs and a plan to transition long‑term fundraising and stewardship to the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque. Presenters said the work is intended to remove a barrier to workforce participation that local employers repeatedly reported during outreach.

"Childcare access, it remains as one of the most significant barriers to workforce in our region," Nick Hockenberry said, summarizing the program’s rationale and outcomes. He told the council the initiative targets both physical capacity and the childcare workforce — recruiting, retaining and training staff.

Hockenberry described three facility projects that have drawn state funding or other support. For the Bridal Minds facility in the West End Industrial Park — a site that will house the Y’s early childhood center and a Dubuque Community Schools preschool center — he said GDDC secured phase 2 funding of $845,000 to build out an expansion that will add about 100 slots. "In total for the Bridal Minds facility, we've leveraged $3,000,000 in state funds," he said. Hockenberry also referenced a privately supported employer facility by Cottingham & Butler expected to open this fall and a Dyersville industrial‑park expansion by The Kid Project.

On grants to providers, Hockenberry said GDDC awarded nearly $830,000 in the program’s first year to 18 centers, work that GDDC reported produced 77 new hires and roughly 223 new childcare slots. He said the program’s first year combined approximately $820,000 in private funds with state grant dollars (which he described as about $560,000) and that those combined resources allowed GDDC to reimburse providers for recruitment and onboarding costs.

In year two, without the same level of state funding, Hockenberry said GDDC received 20 applications requesting close to $500,000 but had roughly $230,000 available. He said the group awarded about $214,000 to 20 centers (including two new centers) with a stated goal — described to providers during the awards — of hiring additional childcare professionals and expanding slots. The presenters told the council that, if sustained, the effort could yield a potential increase of more than 400 slots across the region.

Rick Dickinson highlighted the private‑sector role in sustaining the work and offered an example of a major corporate gift: he said an appeal for $100,000 to the John Deere Foundation yielded a $600,000 gift. Dickinson also outlined GDDC’s strategic planning work and said the organization will shift from leading some elements of the childcare program to a supporting and convening role as philanthropic partners scale the effort.

Hockenberry described the grants as reimbursement grants: providers submit monthly documentation of new hires and related costs and are reimbursed from the grant funds. He said the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque will take a lead role on long‑term fund development and that other local partners — including Dubuque Initiative and Child Care Resource & Referral — will continue to participate.

Councilman Resnick asked whether Head Start programs were at risk; Dickinson and Hockenberry said they were monitoring federal funding but had no specific local change to report. No formal council action or vote was taken during the work session; the meeting packet and presenters’ handouts were offered as the basis for follow‑up questions and further staff work.

No public comment was taken at the special session, per the meeting notice, and the council returned to adjourn and prepare for a regular meeting following the update.