Hey, listeners. Today on the podcast I have Pam Ost of The Learning Center in Charles City, Iowa.
She is an absolute treat of a guest. She has a kindness in her voice that makes me wish I could be a kid in her care! Luckily she works well with big kids too and is getting stuff done. It’s easy to see why the whole community believes in her ideas. She could be the spokesperson for the whole darn city!
I promise I didn’t set her up for this, but her story fits PERFECTLY into my steps of getting big things done in small towns. I just love her story (their story!) of how Charles City came together to see a need and find a solution. And I just. Freakin. Love. A good persevere-through-hard-times story.
Key takeways
- Pam Ost is the director of The Learning Center, a childcare center in Charles City, Iowa. They are renovating an old middle school to expand their center to address the growing need for high quality childcare.
- Pam emphasizes the importance of supporting children from birth through graduation. She works with the public school to support child development throughout life.
- Charles City, Iowa is, by Iowa standards, a big town with 8,000 people and home to some major industries. Great childcare is SO IMPORTANT to support the economy!
- Covid showed the world how quickly things fall apart without childcare. Pam is a major employer herself with 30+ employees. She is proud to say her center never closed and never laid off workers through the whole pandemic, even when enrollment went from 88 children to 35.
- Covid also threw some wrenches in their project! They are suffering supply chain issues just like everyone but hope to be in their new location this fall.
- There are so many exciting things about this project. The students are most looking forward to a gym! The new location will also have a commercial kitchen to make it a true community building.
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