Almost every industry is experiencing issues with hiring, but not all of them have a trickle-down effect like you could find with child care in northern Door County.

Northern Door Children’s Center in Sister Bay is one of the few child-care facilities in the entire county. Retirements and other reasons have led the center to be about five teachers short of where they would like to be in terms of staffing. Like other businesses across the country, they have struggled to get applicants even after raising wages and increasing benefits. Karen Corekin-DelaMer from the Northern Door Children’s Center credits their staff for allowing them to maintain their services to as many families as they possibly can. Without the proper staffing, she says the waiting list for new families will grow and current families may have to become more flexible.

Not having enough teachers could create more issues for those looking for child care in Door County. The United Way of Door County has been working hard at addressing those issues. Along with the Door County Child Development Center, they are surveying the community to learn about ways they could offer care for families with adults working non-traditional shifts.