Recognizing the dearth of child care options for its employees and the community in general, a pair of high-profile Newberg institutions have taken steps to do something about it, with help from the county government.
George Fox University and A-dec dental equipment company have begun making plans to construct a multi-million-dollar child development center in the next few years in Newberg. The effort got a boost from Yamhill County in early April when the Board of Commissioners approved $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, with an additional $500,000 possibly available in the future.
“Yamhill County has not had enough coverage for its childcare needs of over a decade,” Shawn Daley, the university's chief strategy officer, said in an email. “This has made it challenging for employees of all major employers in Yamhill County who have young children and work at our organization. Many have to drive fairly far away from our campuses.
"When meeting to discuss mutual issues with our workforces, childcare services was one of the top three and we (along with several other partners) discussed working collaboratively to help the community here.”
The timeline for constructing the $7 million-plus facility, with its design and exact location at GFU still to be determined, is uncertain, Daley said, although the hope is to have it operational by 2026.
“We are working collaboratively on scoping several different sites for the best location for children’s services,” he added.
GFU and A-dec Inc. will share in the cost of the project, along with the current $500,000 ARPA grant and one hoped for in the future.
“We still hope the commission grants the remaining $500K as that will support the specific furniture, fixtures and equipment needed to provide care for infants and toddlers,” Daley said.
The school and business initially requested $1 million in ARPA money for the facility, with half going toward planning, design, architectural renderings and construction development. The subsequent $500,000 would go toward purchasing furniture, fixtures and equipment for the facility.
Daley commented that the school and the dental manufacturing giant were encouraged to apply for the ARPA funds by Newberg City Councilor Molly Olson, “who has been a tremendous advocate for support in Newberg for childcare services.”
A-dec and George Fox assembled and submitted a proposal to the county in October 2023 and the commission tentatively awarded the funds in December.
In the proposal submitted to the county, the pair briefly touched on the nature of the facility they envision being built. It would range from 12,000 to 15,000 square feet in size, have outdoor play space and be located on land the university owns that has yet to be developed, presumably on North Villa Road near the school’s tennis courts.
The facility would serve roughly 150 children, with 100 the children of A-dec and GFU employees and the balance reserved for children from the community.
The center will likely be run as a limited liability company, Daley said, and be under the auspices of the university due to George Fox’s status as an educational organization.
Providing child care in the community will not be the only goal of the facility, though.
“We want this center to be a research and training facility as well as a model site for employer-supported child development,” the application to the commission stated. “We aim to provide additional support services on the site for parent education, community wellness and summertime child engagement to serve both the city of Newberg and Yamhill County.”
Although George Fox does not have an educational major in early childhood education, it does have some disciplines that could benefit from the exposure.
“Across many of our healthcare programs, which have been expanding rapidly in the last decade, we have students who do need clinical experiences with children’s services,” Daley said. “These programs include education as well as clinical psychology, social work, kinesiology and occupational therapy.”
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