: Center for Education and Workforce

The Early Childhood and Business Advisory Council in Huntsville, Alabama
© Sasha Saputo
Sasha Saputo, Associate Manager for Early Childhood Education at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sits down with Brittany Walsh, Associate Director for Early Childhood Initiative at the Bipartisan Policy Center to discuss lessons learned from The Early Childhood and Business Advisory Council meeting in Huntsville, Alabama.
High school girls collaborating on a task
© Getty Images
At this very moment, women across the United States are sitting on million-dollar ideas, like a product that fills a niche or a service that solves a unique challenge. And increasingly, women are turning those ideas into entrepreneurship opportunities. Women accounted for 49% of business startups in 2021, a 28% jump from two years earlier. 
Family Walking in Open Field
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I realize that it can be difficult for companies based in big cities to understand the realities of everyday life in small-town America. But the stark truth is that compared with their suburban and urban counterparts, the 1.1 million rural families with young children face a multitude of challenges that impact their childcare outlook.
Mother working on laptop with child in lap
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Right now, maybe more than any other time in modern history, working parents are devoting significant amounts of time, energy, and resources into balancing their roles at home and in the workplace.  Parents must consider various factors in determining the level and type of childcare solutions that best meet their needs.
Bye Bye 2022
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Looking back on 2022 fills me with pride and a sense of awe at all the team has accomplished in 12 short months. The Center for Education and Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation continues to conceive of and lead long-term systems change in education and workforce—the underpinnings of American competitiveness and prosperity.
Aaron Merchen speaking at the ECE Summit
On September 29 and 30, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted the 2022 Early Childhood Education Summit in Denver, Colorado providing an opportunity for business leaders, providers, and early childhood advocates to discuss and analyze child care through a state-and-federal policy lens. Aaron Merchen (Education, US Chamber of Commerce & Director, Policy & Programs, Early Childhood Education, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation) who led the summit and worked with the state and regions toward identifying early childhood priorities and creating actions to address those priorities to policymakers discussed some key takeaways.
Garrett Sheehan speaking at the TPM NLN Summit
Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS) received $24 million in federal funding to expand job training programs that have struggled to meet demand amid a shortage of skilled workers in the state. Garrett Sheehan, president and CEO of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, discussed the talent challenge OWS focused on when they first applied to the Good Jobs Challenge.

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