Child Care Business Opportunity Fund
WBDC is pleased to offer grants of up to $25,000 to qualified child care businesses.
WBDC, in partnership with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), offers grants of up to $25,000 to qualified child care businesses in Connecticut through its Child Care Business Opportunity Fund.
Designed to help licensed and aspiring child care businesses grow, the Opportunity Fund has grant programs targeting different stages of business, from start-ups to those ready to expand.
Para traducir la página al español, haga clic en el botón Español en la parte superior de la página o en el menú del lado derecho si esta usando su celular.
Current Grant Programs to Meet a Variety of Needs
Grant application portal, and no-cost grant application support, is available in English & Spanish.
Start-Up Grants
- Up to $5,000 for family homes, $10,000 for group homes, and $25,000 for centers for start-up operating expenses
- Open to aspiring & licensed child care providers open for less than 1 year
- Current application closed
- Prepare for the next round anticipated: Winter 2025
Expansion Grants
- Up to $25,000 to create slots and maximize enrollment
- Open to licensed providers operating with enrolled children for 2+ years
- Current application closed
- Prepare for the next round anticipated: Winter 2025
Emergency Facilities Grants
- Up to $15,000 for urgent facilities projects to remain open & safe
- Open to licensed providers operating with enrolled children for 6+ months
- Current application closed
- Prepare for the next round anticipated: Jan 2025
Additional Funding - Access to Capital
- Need additional funding? Meet with a WBDC Business Advisor at no cost to explore loan options for your child care business.
- Including programs like CT Small Business Boost and others!
- Next Step! Schedule an appointment with Samantha Cross or Tanya Kelley to get started.
Learn About Our Grants
Ready to learn more about how you can apply?
Sign up for an info session and click through these boxes to make sure you have all the information you need to make your application strong!
Join us for a Grant Information Session to learn about what the grant can be used for, eligibility requirements, and what information we’re looking for in the application. If you have attended a Grant Information Session in the past year, the information will be similar.
Watch Recording in English
Watch Recording in Spanish
Applied in the past? We encourage past applicants who are familiar with our grants to skip the Information Session. Instead, book an advising appointment to discuss your grant project and work on your application. We invite you to also join the Grant Prep Sessions most relevant to you.
Once you’ve attended a Grant Information Session, we encourage you to take advantage of the multiple sessions to help you complete your grant application. Live sessions have now passed, but recordings are available!
Application Walk-Thru
Join us as we do a live demo of the grant application portal. Get tips on how to use the portal effectively, from uploading documents, saving your progress, to printing your app.
Watch Recording in English
Watch Recording in Spanish
Preparing Your Financial Statements & Projections
We will walk you through gathering your financials and filling out the WBDC financial templates for your Profit & Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Projections.
Watch Recording in English
Watch Recording in Spanish
Preparing Your Use of Funds & Supporting Documents
This session will help you consider what relevant projects or expenses you may have for your business, how it will benefit your business, and how to turn that into your use of funds request & impact statement. We will also guide you on how to gather the backup documents to support your project idea.
Watch Recording in English (60 minutes)
Watch Recording in Spanish (60 minutes)
Calculate Your Time Space Percentage
This session will help you calculate your time-space percentage is an essential part of managing your family childcare home. Join Tanya Kelley as she reviews why this percentage is important and how to calculate it.
Watch Recording in English (60 minutes)
Business Advising (English/Spanish)
Our team can guide you on eligibility requirements and selecting the right grant program for you.
You can also meet with a WBDC Business Advisor at no cost to assist you with your application once you’ve started it. Business advising is an important part of our grant application process. We encourage applicants to create a profile on our grant portal and look over the application questions. If you have any issues, we encourage you to reach out.
- When? Daytime, evening, and weekend appointments
- Where? Virtually for your convenience, or at a WBDC office if needed
- Language? English and Spanish. Support in other languages may be possible – just ask.
Please note that meeting with an advisor does not guarantee your grant application will be awarded – selections are made by an external review committee.
REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT HERE
Bonus Office Hours
In addition to our regular advising hours, we are holding bonus office hours for eligible providers actively working on their application. You will receive an invite. Save the date!
Thursday, August 29 from 6:00-7:00PM (English & Spanish)
Thursday, September 5 from 1:00-2:00PM (English & Spanish)
For the Start-up and Expansion Grant Programs, grant awards are not made on a first come, first served basis. All eligible applications are considered once the application period closes. Funds are set aside on an ongoing basis for Emergency Facilities Grant recipients.
This is a competitive process and WBDC will not be able to fund all applicants. You must be licensed, or pending licensure, with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) as a family home (DCFH), group home (DCGH), or child care center (DCCC) in order to be eligible. You must also meet the eligibility of the grant program and submit a complete application to be considered. Municipally run programs, and programs operating part-time, are not eligible.
If you have multiple OEC licenses, you may submit an application for each location/license number, but you are limited to grants for a maximum of 3 locations.
If you received a WBDC grant in the past 6 months, you are ineligible until the next round (anticipated to open Winter 2025).
If you received funding from OEC-LISC Facilities Funding (or are on the list of finalists), or another grant, you can apply if your WBDC grant project is for a different use of funds/project. Additionally, OEC-LISC awardees/finalists are not priority applicants to be funded by WBDC grants.
WBDC has distributed $7.3 million across Connecticut, through 669 Child Care Business Grant awards. These grants have supported the creation or maintenance of 3,700 jobs and 11,400 slots.
These grants are made possible through the generous financial support of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC).
