VSU’s Alyssa Foskey Joins State Effort to Help Early Care, Education Industry Thrive

Alyssa Foskey, director of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center at Valdosta State University, is on a mission to help childcare businesses across the Peach State thrive. She will offer four two-hour webinars plus no-cost consulting services this year and next year as part of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning’s newly launched Thriving Child Care Business Academy.

VALDOSTA — Alyssa Foskey, director of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center at Valdosta State University, is on a mission to help childcare businesses across the Peach State thrive.

“Many UGA SBDC consultants across Georgia have an area of expertise,” she shared. “Since 2020, my area of expertise has been childcare. Over the past few years, I have had an opportunity to collaborate with the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning and licensed childcare programs it oversees to help support efforts to meet the childcare needs of Georgia’s children and their families.”  

Foskey will offer four two-hour webinars plus no-cost consulting services this year and next year as part of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning’s newly launched Thriving Child Care Business Academy. Funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, the free virtual trainings will cover several business-related subjects, including planning and budgeting, financial accounting and tax preparation, organizational leadership, staff recruitment and retention, enrollment management, and marketing. 

“The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning understands that childcare providers do really well at taking care of children and families, but they don’t always have the skills needed to manage the business side of things successfully,” she said. “The purpose of the Thriving Child Care Business Academy is to provide these childcare providers the skills, training, and resources needed to run an efficient and effective business.”

The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning’s Thriving Child Care Business Academy is an online platform of free training and resources for licensed center- and home-based childcare owners and administrators. The training and materials offered through the academy are tailored to the childcare business setting and have been developed by Civitas Strategies, the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance, and the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center at Valdosta State University.

According to the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, a stable early care and education industry comprised of thriving childcare businesses is important to Georgia’s economic growth and to the future academic success of young learners.

Because of her unwavering dedication to developing leaders and helping small businesses succeed, Foskey was recently named to the America’s Small Business Development Center 40 Under 40 list for 2023.

Visit www.decal.ga.gov/Thriving to learn more about the business training and resources available through Georgia’s new Thriving Child Care Business Academy.

Visit www.valdosta.edu/sbdc to learn more about the many services offered by the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center at Valdosta State University.