Cooperation Station renovating with hope of landing new director

It’s been nearly eight months since Cooperation Station closed due to the departure of its former director. The closure left families scrambling to find alternative child care options in a county where open spots are challenging to come by.

The closure was Cooperation Station’s second in less than a year. While the previous closure in 2023 only lasted a month, this one has lasted eight months without a clear end in sight.

“Our plan was just to rehire a director right away, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to find anyone right away, so we’ve been sitting in limbo for the past several months,” Cooperation Station Board Chair Adrianna Brisson told WTIP.

The challenge of finding a new director is a familiar one: a lack of interest and the struggle to entice those that do apply to a location with limited affordable housing.

“We’ve only had two qualified applicants,” Brisson said. “One was living in Florida and decided not to relocate, and the second was already established in a career in Duluth and didn’t want to make the move up here.”

Cooperation Station’s staffing challenges are emblematic of a systemic issue. The childcare industry has limited profit margins, significant regulations, and challenging work with limited pay.

Brisson hopes that an effort to remodel Cooperation Station’s building could help them land a director.

“For those of you who have seen the big green dumpster outside of our building, we are converting unused space up on the third story into a little housing option for a candidate,” Brisson said. “So that third story would include a bedroom and living space that could also be converted as a second bedroom, if need be, and then kitchen, laundry, [and] bathroom would be all on the main level that is part of the daycare space itself.”

The residence could be used for a candidate living outside the county who needs to relocate. It would also provide stable housing for someone living in Cook County interested in running the daycare.

“The county has funds available to pay for the education needed to become a qualified candidate to get into child care,” Brisson said.

The promise of housing and training proves how motivated Cooperation Station’s board is to eliminate barriers for interested candidates. The board is also exploring other ways to make the job attractive and avoid the burnout of a demanding career.

As child care centers across the state face staffing shortages, Cooperation Station provides insight into what kind of incentives can be used to attract candidates and whether or not those incentives will work.

“We are not going to be closed permanently if we can help it,” Brisson said.

WTIP’s Josh Hinke spoke with Adrianna Brission about Cooperation Station’s staffing challenges. The audio of that conversation can be found below.

Those interested in learning more about the open position at Cooperation Station can visit their website.

Josh Hinke April 15, 2025