By this time next year, Whirlpool employees in Michigan’s Great Southwest with young children should find a dramatically improved picture in the world of day care thanks to corporate plans to build a new company-sponsored child care facility on the world headquarters campus off of M-63 in Benton Charter Township.
As part of its continued commitment to create an attractive workplace, Whirlpool Corporation has announced that it will open an employer sponsored child care facility to help working Whirlpool Corporation parents in the local community, with considerably closer access to their children.
It all comes as the result of a survey that Whirlpool conducted to more closely understand the childcare needs of its employees. The survey found that there was a significant need among employees’ families for an on-site employee child care facility in the Benton Charter Township-Benton Harbor-St. Joseph area.
Carey Martin, Vice President of Global Human Resources at Whirlpool, says, “We listen to our employees and we take their needs seriously.” Martin adds, “Providing our employees with the support they require to maintain a balanced life and take care of their families is paramount.”
Plans for the new on-site facility comprising some 21,600 square feet went before the Benton Township Planning Commission last night and they have recommended the Township’s Board of Trustees approve the plan at their meeting next week. Martin calls it “An exciting development for our employees,” adding, “World-class companies offer onsite employer-sponsored childcare and we made the decision that we should too. It’s important to our employees. The provider can match our hours of operation and offer the ability of our employees to see their children during the work day. We see this not only as an opportunity to support our existing employees, but to attract new talent to Whirlpool.”
Corporate officials say that Whirlpool understands that its greatest asset is people, and providing them with benefits that allow them to unleash their individual and collective talents helps to inspire a winning culture and creates competitive advantage.
Whirlpool tells us that after extensive review, KinderCare was selected as the care provider. They are well known nationally for creating an environment that encourages children to learn and for providing high-quality early childhood education and care programs.
Wei-Li Chong is President of KinderCare and KinderCare Education at Work. Chong says, “KinderCare is honored to work with Whirlpool and other great employers that believe culture is the heartbeat of the workplace,” and adds, “Child care is a key building block of culture and we’re honored to support Whirlpool families by providing the very best care and education for their children. The future of the workforce starts with every child.”
Whirlpool has been working with Benton Township to place the facility within its global headquarters campus. Township Superintendent Kelli Smith says, “We are proud to have Whirlpool Corporation World Headquarters in our township supporting high quality child care.”
Assuming approval from the Board of Trustees, Whirlpool plans to break ground in November and then open the child care facility in September of 2019. The center would be erected off of Paw Paw Avenue across from the building that houses Whirlpool’s Center for Partnership Development on the world headquarters campus, and would be exclusively for Whirlpool employee use.
For more than 107 years, Whirlpool Corporation has been invested in the local Benton Harbor-St. Joseph area through community engagement and offering an excellent workplace for the families it employs throughout the region. They are the world’s leading major home appliance company, with approximately $21 billion in annual sales, 92,000 employees and 70 manufacturing and technology research centers in 2017.
KinderCare Education, and its family of brands, meanwhile, partner with more than 490 organizations around the country to provide customized family-focused benefits for employers, including on-site and near-site early learning centers and back-up care for last-minute child care. To learn more, visit us online at www.kindercare.com/atwork.
