With unprecedented demand for child care, EmBe makes big investment for education staff

This paid piece is sponsored by EmBe.

As preschoolers stayed home during the pandemic, the day care where Courtney Needles worked considered shutting down completely.

“I decided to travel until COVID settled down,” said Needles, who had been a preschool teacher for 11 years.

When it came time to return to teaching, she knew right away where she wanted to work.

“I applied here at EmBe a few months ago and got hired very quickly,” she said. “EmBe is all about empowering women, and I absolutely love that. It’s all about empowering families, which I also love. I just love the mission of EmBe and what they stand for.”

She’s the lead teacher in EmBe’s KinderCollege program, which helps prepare preschoolers for kindergarten.

“They leave here beyond prepared,” Needles said. “And it just gives me joy knowing I’m sending them off with the knowledge and social skills they need so they’re not overwhelmed when they get into a new school.”

EmBe is fortunate to have many outstanding team members such as Needles. It just needs more of them, said CEO Kerri Tietgen.

“On one hand, we are attracting great talent. We are lucky. It’s a powerful culture, and people are responding,” she said. “But as an organization, our goal is not to survive. It’s to thrive. The importance of our mission to empower women and families continues to be strong and necessary. To continue to meet the needs of the community, we simply need to find more people join our team.”

Now for what you really need to know. EmBe has a waitlist of 100 kids who would like to be part of its child care program. Once the waitlist grew that much, the organization had to cap it until more education-focused team members can be found.

The organization already serves nearly 850 children and their working families daily. Last year, that equated to 790,704 hours of care at its two Sioux Falls sites, and in Harrisburg and Mitchell.

“The demand for child care in our area is growing exponentially. I hate to say it but in all honesty, we have a child care crisis in this community,” Tietgen said.

“And without child care, we know thousands of women and men are not able to be part of the workforce. And without staffing to levels that ensure children receive the attention and care they need, we can’t offer more opportunities.”

So EmBe is stepping up even more. The organization already offered a huge package of benefits, but it’s growing.

“We have always been competitive in the market, but we’ve had to be even more aggressive,” said Katy Morris, executive director of human resources.

“And beyond that, we are being strategic. So we are intentionally looking at what we can do in pay, benefits and professional development to show we are serious about attracting more people who are passionate about working with children and growing their careers.”

To fully understand everything EmBe has to offer, you should reach out and begin a conversation, starting here.

But here’s a high-level look at what’s changing:

Higher pay

Starting next month, EmBe once again will be increasing pay for positions related to education and child care.

“It starts there, and we understand that,” Morris said. “We also are committed to attracting top talent, so what we’ve done is not just make sure our hourly compensation is competitive, but we’ve increased pay based on education in this field specifically or years of experience.”

Child care discount

EmBe employees already receive a discount for their own children to attend child care, but that is increasing significantly in 2022.

“Starting in January, there will be a 65 percent discount across the board, and the first week will be free for new enrollees,” Morris said. “Often an employee’s ability to access child care herself helps determine whether she can take the job, so we are going to do everything we can to accommodate that.”

Additional benefits

For those who work at least six hours per day, EmBe offers an incredible benefits package that is getting even better. It already includes health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, short-term disability, flexible spending accounts, 401(k) with company match, supplemental insurance, child care and program discounts, tuition reimbursement, referral bonuses, free parking, vacation and sick time, and paid holidays.

Next year, it will become even easier to participate in retirement plans. EmBe is adding an employee assistance program to its already paid life insurance plan, and it’s not raising any rates on benefits. Health insurance premiums increased less than $3 for employee coverage and actually decreased for employee/child, employee/spouse and family coverage this coming year.

“I just turned 26 and had never been on my own insurance, and they were so helpful in getting me set up,” Needles said. “I got on medical, dental, vision, and it honestly was not a bad price at all. I was expecting way higher. And if you put in 3 percent of your paycheck to a 401(k), EmBe matches it 100 percent, so they’re preparing us for our future, and they’re helping us right now.”

The full lineup of benefits is as strong as anything you’ll find in town, Morris added.

“I would go toe-to-toe with any business in Sioux Falls as far as our benefits package and definitely any other child care setting,” she said. “A lot of people will tell us they get free child care working elsewhere, but there are no other benefits. When you factor in everything else you receive at EmBe, it is as robust of a plan as I’ve seen anywhere.”

Tuition reimbursement

Benefits also include tuition reimbursement for those pursuing a degree or certificate program in the education field.

“My friend also got a job here, and she’s going to school to be an elementary teacher,” Needles said. “And she loves it here because everything she’s learning she’s able to apply in a classroom.”

That’s a common experience for aspiring educators, Morris said.

“We love connecting with future educators while they’re still in high school. They work part time, go to a university or technical college, continue working for us in many cases, and we can help with not just the cost but making sure they get the observation hours they need.”

Professional development

EmBe also has invested in supporting its education team through a new leadership position. In addition to hiring a new executive director of child care and school-age care, EmBe is taking the curriculum expertise of the current child care and school-age programming leader and moving her to focus exclusively on curriculum and specialty programs, which include KinderCollege, Spanish Immersion and Little Navigators.

“It’s critical to have that leadership on the curriculum side,” Morris said. “That supports both our students and our educators, so we’re continually honing our curriculum, which has a direct impact in the classroom. And we’re also stepping up the professional development we’re offering our team so they can grow their skills and continue to build their career.”

It’s part of a broader vision to move EmBe from a child care provider to an education center.

“That’s where empowerment starts – with education,” Tietgen said. “So this is absolutely where we need to be as an organization. It’s the right thing to do for our families, for women and for our community.”

The extras

And there’s more. EmBe team members enjoy free parking. Those who work with kids even can eat lunch for free with them.

On one recent Friday, Needles was excited to visit the closet sale at Dress for Success, which is part of EmBe.

“They’re letting all us teachers fill up a whole bag of clothes for free,” she said. “But that’s what EmBe does. They’re always taking care of their staff.”

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