ReadyNation Illinois

28/09/2026

A Vermilion Advantage poll of local employers once again confirms: Child care challenges are workforce and economic challenges. As this news story relates, "the fallout shows up in ways that hit the bottom line — employees missing shifts, showing up late, or leaving jobs altogether." We applaud Vermilion Advantage and our partners at Birth to Five Illinois for digging-into these issues and their solutions, much like the policy solutions our business-leader network seeks.

The need is personal for many local families. As one Vermilion County family shared with Birth to Five Illinois: “We need affordable childcare in Vermilion County for working parents and we need childcare for parents who work after normal business hours and during school breaks.”

23/09/2026

Facility construction is neither cheap nor easy to navigate for early childhood service providers. It was instructive to join a discussion about how The Carole Robertson Center for Learning assembled a $20 million capital campaign, enlisting public and private resources, to finance important building projects at two Chicago locations. Adding their insights to those of Carole Robertson CEO Bela Moté: Jose Rodriguez of the McCormick Foundation, which hosted Wednesday's event, Melissa Pillars of JPMorganChase, and Kate Ansorge of IFF.

21/09/2026

Tiffany Forristall of the Plano IL Area Chamber and nearly 300 other Illinois business leaders form the membership of ReadyNation, executives who understand: A stable workforce and strong economy depend in part on how well we prepare children for lifelong success, from their earliest years of learning and development.

17/09/2026

We're celebrating Chamber of Commerce Week by thanking the scores of local-chamber execs who are among ReadyNation Illinois' membership of nearly 300 business leaders, speaking-up for wise investments in kids. Members such as Claudia Thornton and Maribeth Bendick represent chambers and communities as far-flung as Glen Ellyn and Belleville — and we're grateful for their partnership, as well as that of the Illinois Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives!

11/08/2026

ReadyNation research on the economic impact of child care was cited in a PBS NewsHour story examining concerns about proposed changes in the federal Head Start program — services that help about 28,000 young children and their families in Illinois, alone. Watch the broadcast at tinyurl.com/3n43nfez.

27/07/2026

"Access to affordable, reliable childcare is closely linked to workforce participation, employee retention and long-term economic growth," according to a newly released report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. It cites ReadyNation research demonstrating that the child care crisis costs the U.S. economy $172 billion a year. We thank NCSL and Illinois State Representative Joyce Mason — who participated in the NCSL policy working group that produced this publication — for helping to shine a brighter light on the multifaceted need to strengthen child care access and quality. Read the NCSL report at tinyurl.com/3csp8p39.

06/07/2026

The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program “gets results … (with) broad, bipartisan support,” U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood said last month in opening a hearing on the initiative’s many proven results. These range from positive parenting to greater school readiness and stronger child and maternal health, added LaHood, who chairs a congressional subcommittee with oversight of MIECHV. Our business leaders join him and committee ranking member U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis in calling for extension of the program’s federal backing. Read more at tinyurl.com/ycxfwe8w

02/07/2026

With aims of streamlining and improving a wide range of birth-to-5 services, the Illinois Department of Early Childhood opens a new era in our state's approach to priorities that are central to the success of young children, their working parents, and our entire economy. Our business-leader network continues to salute and support these moves!

Services for children under 5 — such as childcare or early intervention — has long been complicated for families forced to navigate three separate agencies to access them. Now, Illinois is streamlining them.

25/06/2026

We were pleased to join the Illinois Economic Development Association conference in Chicago this week to discuss the broader significance of child care and early childhood investments with business and civic leaders from every corner of the state!

17/06/2026

In a world of AI and other, rapidly expanding use of technology, workers still "overwhelmingly cite human-centered factors as the strongest drivers of productivity and satisfaction at work," according to a new business report. Still other research has long shown the earliest years of brain development to be a crucial period for shaping non-technical, social-emotional skills that are vital to success in school and careers — a core reason that ReadyNation's business-leader members support early care and education.

As work becomes more digital, fast-paced and increasingly disconnected, a critical driver of workplace performance in every sector is being overlooked: human...