Child Care Business Opportunity Fund

Eligibility for each grant program can be found on the grant webpage (see green boxes near the top of this page).

The following businesses are NOT eligible for the WBDC Child Care Business Opportunity Fund.

1. Businesses that received a WBDC Child Care Business Start-up Grant, Emergency Facilities Grant, or Expansion Grant in the previous grant round or in the last 6 months.
2. Municipally run child care programs, license-exempt programs, licensed youth camps, are not eligible for WBDC grants due to limited funding and alternate opportunities.
3. Child care businesses outside of Connecticut. (Please contact your local SBA Resource Partner including our sister Women’s Business Centers around the U.S., to learn about funding opportunities in your area.)
4. Businesses outside the child care industry and based in Connecticut may be eligible for other WBDC grant programs.  Visit our Funding page to learn more, and get going with WBDC through a class or an appointment with a Business Advisor.

Watch our 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 earlier this year, or applied for the last round of grants in May 2023, the information will largely be the same.

Recording from May 2023 round:

Watch Recording in English

Watch Recording in Spanish / Ver grabación en español

Grant Prep Class: Financial Templates

If you have attended a Grant Information Session this year, or applied for the last round of WBDC child care grants, in May, you are welcome to attend the session.

This session will help you prepare some of the key documents needed for your grant application — your historical & current financial statements, as well as your financial projections.  This session will walk you through gathering your financials and filling out the WBDC financial templates (or your own!).

Watch a recording from our May 2023 round:

Watch Recording (English)

Ver Grabación (Spanish)

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.

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 to assist you with your application once you’ve started it.  Appointments are available at no-cost in English and Spanish.  Support in other languages may be possible – reach out to us.

Fill out this form to request an appointment.

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 may not be able to fund all applicants.  You must be licensed, or pending licensure, with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) in order to be eligible.

We do not recommend you pay anyone to complete your grant application for you as there is no guarantee you will be funded. Additionally, WBDC offers classes & advising at no cost to help you apply, if you meet the eligibility criteria to apply.

If you have multiple OEC licenses, you may submit an application for each location/license number.  However, the following policies apply for multiple awards:

1. Full-time programs can receive up to 2 grants per year, but not in subsequent cycles, in addition to the Business Incentive Program.
2. Part-time programs can receive 1 grant per year, in addition to the Business Incentive Program.
3. Child care owners that have multiple OEC licenses can receive grants, following the above policies, for no more than 3 sites in a year.