Even though we all know “it takes a village,” we don’t make the necessary investment to ensure that all children reach their full potential. So, it was a treat this week to take part in a special event that brought together business leaders, philanthropists, economic developers and government officials who all emphasized the kind of early investment that communities must make to ensure that kids thrive.

The event, the kickoff of a capital campaign called “It Takes a Village to Raise to a Child,” was the announcement of a future expansion and relocation of the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center in Bentonville. Speakers included leaders in government and business who lauded early learning as a key to Northwest Arkansas economic development.

Sara Lilygren, executive vice president of corporate affairs at Tyson Foods, said early education is “essential” for current Tyson team members, whose children need a quality education. But she said it’s also an investment in the future workforce of the company.

“Early childhood development really makes a difference in whether those people are ready to work later on,” Lilygren told a crowd of hundreds gathered in Bentonville on Thursday.

Mike Malone, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, said the region’s leaders must make sure early childhood offerings are high-quality. The Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center includes early learning classrooms as well as a training center that helps other child care centers improve their level of quality.

“An early childhood investment opportunity like this can pay big dividends for our workforce,” Malone said. He emphasized that business-led studies have shown great return-on-investment, including one by Entergy that shows a $9.21 return on every $1 invested in quality early education.

At Arkansas Advocates, we’re working to spread that same message far and wide. Quality early education, at a critical time in brain development, is an economic driver for our state. Learn more about the business case for preK in our report. We need more early education opportunities in Arkansas, and we need to fully fund the high-quality program we already have in place: Arkansas Better Chance, or ABC.

Check out more information on the Helen R. Walton Children’s Enrichment Center here. A news story on yesterday’s (Sept. 17) announcement is here.