Access to affordable, high-quality child care and early education isn’t only a social issue – it drives economic development. This presentation will review recent efforts in North Carolina to ensure greater access to child care, including the work of the recently-established North Carolina Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Child Care Business Liaison role, and engagement opportunities for employers who want to improve child care access for their workers and communities.

Presenter: 
Samantha Cole, Child Care Business Liaison, North Carolina Department of Commerce

Samantha Cole is the Child Care Business Liaison for the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Prior to joining N.C. Commerce, Samantha served as Director of Workforce Partnerships with the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, where she led the organization’s initiatives to connect people experiencing significant barriers to employment with rewarding opportunities and helped area employers engage with innovative workforce development solutions. In 2023, she joined workforce development, economic development, and post-secondary education colleagues from across the state in becoming part of the nation’s first cohort of Certified Workforce Leaders through N.C. State University’s Workforce Development Leadership Initiative. Samantha is passionate about supporting children and families and volunteers as a Guardian ad Litem in the North Carolina court system, as well as on the board of her son’s child care center.