A 10-member task force will hold an organizational meeting Wednesday to begin discussing ways to increase child-care availability in Minot.

Mayor Curt Zimbelman has appointed John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce, to head the task force. MacMartin has set a meeting for Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Minot City Hall, council chambers. The meeting is open to the public.

Others on the committee are: Deb Kunkel, executive director, YWCA; aldermen Lee Snyder and Ron Boen; Jeff Holm, educational services coordinator for Minot Public Schools; Kevin Harmon, superintendent at Minot Catholic Schools; Deanna Klein, Minot State University business instructor; Jerry Nelson, parent utilizing ING child-care center; Diane Abram, child-care provider; and Kristi Asendorf, director of Child Care Resource & Referral.

The Minot City Council authorized the task force Monday after parents, child-care providers and others spoke about the shortage of quality providers. The seriousness of the problem escalated with ING’s recent announcement that its child-care center will be closing June 27. About 60 children are enrolled in the center.

“We certainly applaud the mayor and the community for taking leadership to form that task force and are very supportive of the idea that the issue needs to be solution-oriented,” said Philip Margolis, spokesman for ING in Connecticut.

Margolis said ING is concerned about child-care availability as it looks at its own future growth and ability to attract employees. However, ING’s building won’t be available to be part of that solution, he said, because the company needs more office space for the long term.

ING contracts with the Children’s Home Society and Family Services in Minnesota to offer child care in a building on its property. ING heavily subsidizes the child-care center, although only about 3 percent of its employees use the facility, Margolis said. Most of the parents who use the center aren’t employed at ING.

The Children’s Home Society and Family Services selected the date for closing the center, and ING supports the society’s choice, Margolis said.

ING had opened a child-care center as a benefit for employees when the company came to Minot a number of years ago. Operation of the child-care center wasn’t a stipulation for receiving MAGIC Fund assistance, although child-care jobs were eligible to be included in employee numbers to show compliance with job creation targets.

 ING met the terms of the agreement, which since has expired. The company no longer has any obligations remaining to the MAGIC Fund, according to the city finance office.

Some of the void left by ING may be filled eventually as some local entrepreneurs say they are looking to expand or establish new child-care homes and centers.

Among them is Little Hands Loving Hearts Child Development Center, which would be licensed for 49 children. Terry Voeller, who has been seeking nonprofit status for the center, said the earliest the center might open is late summer.

“We are very sensitive to parents’ needs and we are trying to get open as fast as we can,” she said.

Full text available at The Minot Daily News.