This commentary is by Sam Hooper, owner of Vermont Glove in Randolph.

In order to grow our small businesses and better support working families in Vermont, we need to keep making progress on child care. As the owner of Vermont Glove in Randolph, I’m seeing firsthand the positive impact public investment in affordable, quality child care is having on our children, the workforce and our state’s economy.

Here’s the hard truth: We’ve made real child care progress over the past couple years, but we’re far from finished. My ask in this critical moment, when our state faces significant challenges in so many areas, is that we continue building on our child care progress. 

At Vermont Glove, we manufacture high-quality leather work gloves for the trade sector and consumers right here in the Green Mountain State. We’re a fast-growing company with a small team. We have 12 employees in production, which means that for us to compete with larger glove companies around the world, we must have a consistent, reliable and skilled workforce. 

When we hire, it takes three months to train staff. Because of this significant investment of time and energy, we put a lot of resources into employee retention to keep those employees on our team. As an employer, I am always thinking about my employees’ access to quality, affordable child care, because a lack of access to child care is one of the main barriers that too often causes parents to have to miss work or leave the workforce altogether.

Like every small business, it would be impossible for us to operate a child care program for our employees on our own, nor could we afford to cover our employees’ child care expenses. For years, Vermont has struggled to meet the demand for quality, affordable child care — but through hard work, new public policy and thoughtful leadership, we’re starting to turn a corner, and this small business owner is relieved and grateful. 

In 2023, I joined dozens of other employers from around the state in calling on our lawmakers to step in and address the child care crisis. They listened, and Act 76 was passed. The law is now investing significant public funding into our child care system. In just over a year, Act 76 has helped create 1,000 child care spaces and has led to over 90 new child care programs opening. New public funding is also lowering child care costs for thousands of families — including for my employees. 

As child care programs stabilize, expand, and improve quality, the Vermont Glove team comes to work with more confidence their children are safe, cared for and getting prepared for a strong start in elementary school. We are more productive and are better able to plan for the future.

It’s stories like ours that show just how inseparable child care access is from workforce development and the ability of small businesses to thrive in our state. We’re making progress, but it’s clear we have more work to do to fully solve this crisis. There are still child care deserts across the state where families are struggling to access and afford child care, many child care programs are still facing staffing challenges that limit their capacity and many businesses are still struggling to hire and retain employees as a result. 

Right now, as lawmakers are making crucial budget decisions for fiscal year 2026, they owe it to Vermonters to stay true to the commitment they made through Act 76 and bring us closer to fixing our broken child care system. We are just beginning to turn a corner, to stabilize and expand our child care sector so that it can actually meet the needs of our state. This is the time to build on that progress.

I urge our lawmakers to do the right thing for Vermont children, families and businesses, and continue investing in child care in the FY26 state budget.