NewsStories Of Opportunity: Our Child Care Center Turns 1

This article was originally published on March 7, 2025, as part of the full release of the 2024 Stories Of Opportunity. The Stories Of Opportunity is VGM Group’s annual report, showcasing the successes of VGM and its employee owners.   

In November 2023, the VGM Child Care Center opened its doors for the first time to employee owners and their young ones. With the constant struggle of securing reliable child care over the last few years, the VGM Child Care Center lifted a weight from the shoulders of dozens of employee owners.  

Convenience 

If there is a common theme between all of the employee owners utilizing the child care center, it’s convenience. With the center built directly inside VGM Headquarters, employee owners no longer have to go out of their way to drop off or pick up their kids. That’s been a major benefit to Tyler Mahncke, SVP of Clinical Mobility And Accessibility at VGM & Associates, who has had two kids in VGM’s child care center: daughter Lakelyn and son Conway.   

“Nothing beats having your kids in the same place you go to work,” Tyler said. “We live close to VGM, and I come to work in the office every day, so it just makes sense. And of course, when the kids are sick, it helps that I’m already there to be able to pick them up and take them home. When they were at the other center, it would take me over an hour to pick them up, take them home, and then get to back to the office if I needed to.” 

Structure 

One of the selling points for Nick Dideriksen, VP of Operations And Business Technology in Forbin, and his family was the pricing structure for the child care center, allowing flexibility during the summer months for his son, Brooks, when his older sisters are out of school. 

“We’re always big on family time, so it’s great to be able to have Brooks play around and do fun activities with his sisters,” Nick said. “All of my kids are social butterflies—that also means they can be quite the handful once in a while. But that’s the other thing I love about the center. The teachers and staff are amazing, and I can trust them to give Brooks the right amount of structure. Plus, I’m right down the hall if I ever want to check in on him.”  

Accreditation 

And while convenience is true for all employee owners utilizing the child care center, other factors also play a role in their decisions to use the center. For Brooke Kraft, Vice President of Talent Management for Human Capital, and Lathan Ehlers, Copywriter Lead for Corporate Communications, the child care center’s accreditation was the selling point to enroll their daughters Viv and Ceely.  

“Our previous in-home care provider was like family to us,” said Brooke. “But now, the girls are part of something that has a curriculum—there are teachers that teach the kids. That scheduled curriculum and learning doesn’t always happen at in-home day cares.” 

Expansion 

VGM is committed to helping our employee owners in any way we can. That’s why over the last year, the child care center was expanded to employee owners who were grandparents, aunts, or uncles to children needing child care. While VGM strives to Make A Difference for our community, we also aim to Make A Difference for our employee owners.

The VGM On-Site Campus Child Care Center is operated by CUCCC. And has numerous enrollment availability for children of all ages, ranging from 6 weeks to 5 years. 

To read the 2024 Stories Of Opportunity in full, click here.