Tullahoma is coming up short when it comes to child care, something Kelly North, Executive Director of the Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation says is on the top of their list when it comes to closing the gap.

She revealed during a briefing of the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen that Tullahoma is presently about 500 spots short of meeting the need when it comes to child care.

“Without sufficient child care capacity, labor force participation suffers,” she said, noting estimates are that Tullahoma is short 500 child care slots presently. ‘This shortage is directly impacting our employers.”

North said the TAEDC is seeking out providers, exploring expansion and seeking out funding to address the shortage.

“Closing that gap makes Tullahoma more competitive for workers and for the employers who need them,” she said. “

The revelation of a child care gap came as Kelly made the organization’s case for funding this budget year, listing their accomplishments over the past year to the board of mayor and aldermen.

She noted that the goal is to expand Tullahoma’s tax base by strengthening the ability to recruit, retain and expand business.

“Business will not locate or expand in communities where workforce challenges or infrastructure gaps create barriers,” North revealed. “Our role is to identify those barriers, address them strategically and position Tullahoma for sustainable growth.”

She noted that the TAEDC board is made up of diverse representatives that represent all sectors of business. They include Col., USAF (retired) Beverly Lee, chairman; engineer Dave Bond, Vice Chair, Secretary Rich Elis, hospital director; insurance agent John McCord, treasurer; Kevin LeMay from project management; Misty Damron from human resources and attorney Josh Sudbury.

Industrial recruitment is one of the major responsibilities and the Tullahoma Airport Business Park is a premiere example of an industrial recruitment asset.

“Aerospace, defense, advanced engineering,” she said of the importance of the airport. “All of these align with AEDC, our existing industry, our regional economy and our workforce strengths.”

She went on to say that working with existing companies to retain them in Tullahoma is another major work that TAEDC does along with encouraging education to train the technical workers of tomorrow.

As for goals in the coming year, North says they want to target a high value industry at the Tullahoma Airport Business Park, build workforce pipelines to meet industry demand, straighten the regional health care hub and to close retail gaps and support the Summerlin development which will lead to increased sales tax.

North requested a $33,000 investment from the city during its upcoming budget for items like digital recruitment, print and membership in Next-Move.