Armed with the Putnam County Childcare Impact and Action Plan produced through the Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center, City Council Vince Aguirre is looking for persons interested in forming a long-term committee to further tackle the issue.
“I’ve started meeting with a few people interest in a longer-term child care initiate,” Aguirre told the City Council recently. “If anyone is interested, let me know.”
Aguirre said his goal is to follow up on the comprehensive child care study with a long-term committee to put together a plan to tackle some part of the child care issue in the community.
“I’m looking for community members, business owners, parents, child care workers or center owners or anyone interested to form a committee where we will put together a plan and try to start taking bites out of the apple to make child care affordable and accessible in our community,” Aguirre told the Banner Graphic.
The impact report stresses that child care is essential to any region’s quality of life.
“Putnam County’s long-term economic health depends on the strength and stability of its workforce, which is directly reliant reliable child care,” the report notes, explaining that many Putnam County families struggle to access affordable, high-quality care that enables them to fully participate in the local economy. “This lack of access reduces workforce participation, limits business productivity and constrains economic growth across the county.”
The report further indicates the impact on employers shows up directly in bottom lines as businesses in Indiana alone lose an estimated $3.05 billion every year from child care-related turnover and absenteeism, while broader analyses put the state’s total lost economic activity at roughly $4.22 billion annually.
Those figures echo national estimates that child-care breakdowns already cost employers billions in lost productivity and missed work hours, and they help explain why some state and employer coalitions now quantify child care as an essential workforce investment rather than a fringe benefit.
Other studies find that employer-supported child care and benefits can pay back many times their cost through reduced turnover and higher productivity, making childcare a strategic tool for filling vacancies, stabilizing teams and lowering recruiting expenses.
TPMA Inc. presents the study prepared for Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center examining the state of child care in Putnam County, its effects on the local workforce and the opportunities for strategic action. The report focuses on promising practices and outlines a practical action plan designed to guide local decision-makers, employers, foundation, and other key stakeholders in working together for a strong early childhood education ecosystem.
It notes that “by investing in childcare infrastructure and committing to long-term collaboration, the county can build a more resilient, inclusive economy where families and employers thrive together.”
Like other Indiana counties, Putnam County is facing a child care crisis that directly affects family stability, workforce participation and local economic growth. The comprehensive analysis by TPMA highlights both the scope of unmet child care needs and the economic opportunity available if these needs are met.
The Putnam County Childcare Action Plan provides a framework for building collaborative efforts, supporting providers and assisting parents while outlining a path toward more accessible, more affordable and more high-quality child care.
An untapped, significant pool of labor that has left the workforce are parents of young children who cannot afford and/or do not have access to child care for their young children. Returning these parents to the workforce — many of whom are ready, willing and eager to re-enter a full-time job if the financial gains outweigh the cost of child care — can have an immediate and lasting impact on the labor force participation rate and consequently, the economic vitality of a region.
It is estimated that 177 work-willing parents reside in Putnam County. Should they return to the workforce full-time, it is estimated they could earn between $7.7 million and $8.8 million annually. Such earnings, the report notes, would be spent mainly within the region, fueling the purchase of homes, supporting local businesses, and creating additional jobs, earnings and opportunities for employers and residents.
Payroll taxes associated with the earnings of the 177 parents would generate between $233,565 and $267,650 in additional state income tax revenue for Indiana. In addition, the 177 parents would generate between $176,131 and $201,835 in additional county income tax revenue.
Based on the output of the full-time work conducted by these 177 work-willing parents, the region stands to generate an additional Gross Regional Product (GRP) of between $16.1 million to $19.3 million, the report indicates. This GRP could result in extra revenue for local, state and federal governments in property, sales and import taxes, estimated to range between $813,170 to $947,891.
The report concludes that “the opportunity to improve child care is immediate, and the financial benefits for employers, parents and governments are substantial.”
After analyzing the economic impact, TPMA includes recommendations for the next steps. The solution to the problem, it says, “must be multifaceted and unique to each community.”
Formal collaboration and coordination on goals, metrics, strategies and tactics is considered an almost universal first step, it notes.
© 2026 Greencastle Banner-Graphic