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DURHAM -- The $3.3 million federal grant announced Tuesday that will create Durham's first-ever Early Head Start program won't just help 120 needy children and their families.
It will as well significantly benefit Durham's economy and image, said the head of the local Chamber of Commerce.
The program will mean more than a dozen new jobs for the area, but it also will help answer one of the main questions business people have when they think of creating companies here or relocating their firms here, said Casey Steinbacher, chamber CEO.
"They always want to know about the talented work force here," Steinbacher said. "They want to know, why should they be here? What kind of community are you? What are we doing for our children?"
Quality child care, Steinbacher said, is "essential to that conversation."
From the chamber's perspective, she added, from the economic development perspective, "we are really excited about this grant. "
Steinbacher noted that the news of the grant comes on the heels of other good recent economic news for the area, including the announcement last month of the relocation to Durham of the headquarters of IEM, a risk assessment firm, which plans to create more than 400 new jobs, and the significant stimulus research funding coming into both Duke and UNC Chapel Hill universities.
"We're on a good streak," she said.
