The Welsh Wire: Gretchen Dettloff, Kalsec and Laura Keiser, Leslie Poucher Pratt, and Martha Todd, Farmhouse Early Learning Center
As part of their efforts to attract and retain great workers, Kalamazoo-headquartered Kalsec opened an on-site early learning center in 2017. The Farmhouse Early Learning Center provides quality child care and pre-school programming for employees raising families. The facility is open to children ages six weeks to five years, where they enjoy individualized care, enriching learning experiences and rewarding social interactions.
It’s one of the perks that helps make Kalsec an employer of choice in west Michigan. “[Childcare] flexibility is so important in helping employees balance work with family responsibilities,” says Gretchen Dettloff, Senior HR Manager for Kalsec. “And I also think the decision to place your child in someone else’s care can really cause some anxiety. So I think our program provides reduced stress on the employee. When your child has safe, loving and stimulating child care that you can count on, you don’t have to worry while you’re at work. At the end of the day I think everybody benefits — the employees benefit, the kids benefit and our community benefits.”
The Farmhouse was built based on Kalsec company values, says Farmhouse Director Laura Keiser. “When we [with Farmhouse Director Leslie Poucher Pratt] were starting the Farmhouse [we realized] that we had to be the best,” she says. “Because if we weren’t, and people were coming to visit us at the Farmhouse, and they’re going, I think I’m going to enroll my kids down the road — that can’t happen so we needed to be the best. So we are.”
Learn more about Kalsec’s Farmhouse Early Learning Center when Gretchen Dettloff, Laura Keiser, Leslie Poucher Pratt and Martha Todd, Vice Chair and Farmhouse Founder and Manager, talk with Sheri Welsh on this week’s Welsh Wire podcast. Click here
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