Early learning has scored impressive victories in recent years - billions of dollars in fresh federal funding and growing state support - and business executives deserve some of the credit.

These days chief executives sit on early education boards, invest in scholarships and development and argue for the benefits of top-quality child care. This morning I was reminded of this while reading that one executive, Scope View Strategic Advantage’s chief Bill Millet, suggested good child care can attract business development.

“Millett’s company helps businesses and industries select sites to locate in. Early educational opportunities, he said, are increasingly features those companies look for in selecting a site to locate a plant or business,” – “Early Childhood Development is Economic Development: In an Increasingly Competitive World, U.S. Must Invest in Children,” Ludington Daily News, 9/22/09.

This would be a powerful shift in business thinking because if companies add quality child care to the low taxes, free and cheap land and job training they seek when looking for places to build, early ed advocates could gain leverage in state legislatures. In fact, The Boeing Co.’s latest dance with states over where to locate a 787 airplane production line could test this idea.

For years, we have heard these economic arguments – though site selection is a new one to me – but the debate is getting louder and the proponents more powerful.
Last year, for example, my favorite Federal Reserve economist Arthur Rolnick reported that chief executives from Cargill, Best Buy, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and EcoLab sit on the Minneapolis Early Learning Foundation board.

“Our top CEOs are involved in this,” the Minneapolis Fed economist told the Milken Institute’s Global Conference. “I just got called by…Coca Cola and Home Depot in Atlanta. They are very interested in this model and they are actually coming to Minneapolis and St. Paul to see how we are doing this.” (Check out his video on this Web site for a min-class on Rolnick’s thinking.).

They are not sitting on these boards just to feel better about themselves. It would appear economic arguments for top-quality child care are getting through to them. Rolnick cited one study that showed a $20,000 two-year investment in quality early learning offered a 16 percent return, even after adjusted for inflation. This is a language CEOs understand.

On top of all the powerful research on the benefits of early learning, we have to give business leaders credit for joining the debate and moving it forward.

Thanks to the National Institute for Early Education Research for finding the news out of Michigan.)