Kentucky Chamber, Thrive by 5 Louisville Launch Statewide Initiative to Help Employers Address Child Care Challenges

The Kentucky Chamber and Thrive by 5 Louisville, in partnership with the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation, today launched Kentucky Employers Leading on Child Care, a statewide initiative to help businesses invest in child care solutions that support their workforce.

Through the initiative, a dedicated team will work directly with employers across Kentucky to understand their employees’ child care needs, identify options that fit their workplace and guide them through implementation. Employers can sign up for a one-on-one consultation at kychildcare.com.

For Kentucky businesses, child care is a growing workforce challenge. The Kentucky Chamber Center for Policy and Research’s 2025 report, A Workforce Solution That Works, estimated that 16,000 to 28,000 Kentucky parents could enter or re-enter the workforce with greater access to affordable child care.

Employers can take advantage of state and federal programs to help address costs and availability. To help make care more affordable, businesses can contribute toward employees’ child care costs through the Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership (ECCAP), with the state matching those contributions. To help expand access to care, the federal Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit (Section 45F) provides tax incentives for qualifying investments in child care facilities and services.

“Child care is one of the biggest challenges facing Kentucky’s workforce, and employers have an important role to play in addressing it,” said Ashli Watts, president and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber. “By working directly with businesses across the state to identify practical solutions, we can help more parents access the child care they need to work, creating new opportunities for Kentucky families and helping our businesses grow.”

WEHR Constructors, an employer with approximately 100 employees across Kentucky, is among the businesses offering ECCAP as an employee benefit. The company has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Kentucky for eight consecutive years and was named the top-ranked small business in both 2025 and 2026. The annual award recognizes Kentucky employers based on their workplace policies, practices and employee feedback.

“ECCAP gives us a practical way to invest directly in our employees and their families,” said Katrina Dietrich, director of human resources at WEHR Constructors. “The program has helped our employees manage the significant cost of child care while strengthening our recruitment and retention efforts. I’ve also experienced the benefits personally as a working mother who has participated in ECCAP. It provided meaningful financial relief for my family and peace of mind knowing my child had dependable care while I continued building my career. I would strongly encourage other Kentucky employers to explore this program and the difference it can make for their employees.”

The initiative builds on years of cross-sector collaboration to strengthen Kentucky’s child care system. Since 2024, the Kentucky Chamber and the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation have helped bring together business, philanthropic and advocacy leaders through the Kentucky Collaborative on Child Care.

The Collaborative developed A Foundation for Action, a consensus-driven framework outlining 37 recommendations to expand child care access, improve affordability and support Kentucky’s workforce. This work, alongside ongoing efforts by Thrive by 5 Louisville and other partners, helped establish a foundation for statewide policy progress and employer engagement.

These efforts helped lay the groundwork for significant policy progress during the 2026 legislative session. The Kentucky General Assembly approved historic funding for child care over two years, established free child care for eligible child care employees in state law, and made improvements to ECCAP, among other priorities.

While public policy has created new opportunities to address Kentucky’s child care challenges, lasting progress will also depend on employers taking action. The initiative will help bridge the gap between available programs and practical solutions businesses can implement to support their workforce.

The Kentucky Chamber Foundation will lead the initiative across the state, building on a decade of work to help Kentucky businesses understand their workforce needs and address barriers to employment. The Chamber Foundation will collaborate with key economic development and child care organizations across Kentucky to leverage the strengths of local efforts.

“We have an opportunity to change how Louisville approaches child care by bringing businesses, families and providers together around a shared goal,” said Reylene Robinson, executive director of Thrive by 5 Louisville. “This partnership allows us to build on the work already underway and strengthen our child care system, giving more families access to the care they need and supporting the future of our community.”

“Kentucky has made meaningful progress in recognizing child care as essential to our workforce and economy. Now, we have an opportunity to turn that progress into action,” said Ashley Novak Butler, executive director of the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation. “Through sustained collaboration among business, philanthropy and community leaders, we have helped build the foundation for change. This initiative is an important next step in turning that work into practical solutions that help employers strengthen their workforce, families access child care and communities thrive.”

Learn more about the initiative at kychildcare.com.