The Northwoods Child Development Center, a daycare center based in Eagle River, just received a $10,000 grant.
The Northwoods Child Development Center recently received a $10,000 small business grant from American Express and Main Street America.
The daycare center has been a part of the community in Eagle River for over 30 years.
Director Wendy Kanitz says they plan to spruce up the front of the center with part of the grant money.
“We are also using some of the money to make this front of the center more relatable to what we do here. So many people tell us that they drive by and they say, “I had no idea there was a daycare here.” So we're gonna put some statues out front and make it more preschool-like, I guess,” she said.
With the other part of the grant, they’ll install a bike path.
She said that they’ve had several fundraisers over the years for the path, but that this grant will finally make it a reality.
“For years, we had been trying to put a bike path in for the kids on the playground,” she said.
Thanks to this grant, they’ll actually be able to do so in August.
American Express and Main Street America created the Backing Small Businesses grant program in 2021 and have expanded the program since.
In April, eligible businesses for the Backing Small Businesses grant program submitted proposals for projects that grow or improve their businesses by building community, supporting their economic viability, or bolstering meaningful change.
American Express says they want to help under-resourced and economically vulnerable small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kanitz noted that a lot of COVID-19 support programs that were really helping the center have since been cut.
“There were programs in place for a while that would help the workers pay for childcare. Those were amazing programs, but those were gone,” she said.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses surveyed small business owners and found that most reported their local economies remain below pre-COVID-19 crisis levels of economic activity.
