The Early Learning Coalition of Lake County hosted its first Owners and Director’s Conference on Friday, March 13, 2015 at their office which began at 8:00 AM until        1:30 PM.  The conference was designed to give owners and directors different ideas and strategies they could use to increase their skills and grow their business.

This year’s conference focused on personal and business insurance, accreditation and finance.  Vanessa Natta from Combined Insurance spoke with the directors about income protection for their family, life insurance policies and comprehensive family protection.  Carrie Allen from Early Learningscapes took the owners and directors on a journey of discovering the benefits and values of accreditation; familiarize them with the components of accreditation; discussed how being accredited increase the credibility of their program; instructed them on how to create an accreditation plan; explained to them the ultimate value of accreditation and how it helps to make their program stand out from their community competitors.  Chuck Kirk from PNC Bank talked with the owners and directors about the life-cycle of a business and provided them with the basic understanding of the day-to-day cash flow of the business and succession planning.

The conference ended with the closing speaker Connie King from Erimar Consulting speaking with the directors about Building the Bridge.  She gave them strategies on how to close the gap between parents, caregivers and the community for the sake of the children.  Owners and Directors were reminded that they are the builder and the builder is the connector, compassionate and tolerant caregiver. In order to build the bridge they will need social skills, adaptation to self-change, motivation (self) and empathy.

This year’s Owners and Directors conference brought several owners and directors throughout our county to increase their professional development skills.

The Early Learning Coalition of Lake County would like to thank local business partners for helping to make this conference a success: Publix, McDonalds, Rural King, Panera Bread, Brown & Brown Insurance, Donut King, Best Buy, Home Depot, Tire Choice & Total Car Care, PNC Bank, Jenkins Hyundai of Leesburg, Target, Sam’s Club, Dunkin Donuts, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Lowe’s Firestone and The Walt Disney Company.   This event could not have been a possible without the dedication and support of these local businesses, the Coalition Board Members and Coalition Staff.