The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Area companies work to fill need for childcare By Steve Enders The nation's top companies are realizing that their employees want benefits that go beyond the norm of health, dental and 401k plans. They want childcare, and in the West Valley a provider called Bright Horizons is stepping in to fill the need. At a meeting last Wednesday, representatives from some of Silicon Valley's leading high-tech companies met for the first time at Symantec's headquarters to discuss a possible alliance with Bright Horizons to provide childcare for their employees. The arrangement seems fitting since Bright Horizons, based in Cambridge, Mass., is the nation's largest provider of employer-sponsored childcare. It operates more than 260 centers in 36 states. And according to the Investors Business Daily, work-site childcare is the fastest growing realm of the education and childcare industry. Judging by Wednesday's turnout, it's about to take off even further in Silicon Valley. Symantec employees would like it, according to benefits manager Sharon Thompson, and so would employees of other global corporations with offices in the West Valley. At the meeting, a representative from Siemens said the company is interested in teaming with Bright Horizons and is starting a section on its Internet Web site stocked with resources for parents with young children. The proposed childcare center is in the discussion stage right now. But Symantec and a number of other high-tech firms want to be involved with a well-known, stable program that could supervise as many as 150 children while their parents work nearby. Many of the representatives at last week's meeting are also parents of young children and said that the need for childcare close to the workplace is advantageous to the company, the family and the children. Discussions centered mostly on a Cupertino location for the center, which could use existing space provided by one of the participating companies. They may also decide to build an entirely new facility. A number of representatives at Wednesday's meeting said they were interested in a location in San Jose, near I-880 and U.S. 101. Company representatives said they like Bright Horizons because it does all the legwork in securing a facility either by entering into an agreement with a corporation or by constructing a new building. The cost of the program or of building a new facility will depend on the number of companies involved in the deal and the number of spaces they need for their employees' children. Bright Horizons client services director Laura Peterson estimates that building a new center will cost about $3.5 million. "It's about peace of mind," Peterson said. "The staff of the center makes a big difference between average childcare and quality childcare. To have peace of mind of your child's welfare--you just can't put dollar signs on it." Wilma Gold, regional director of Bright Horizons, said, "People are less likely to leave a company when they have a great benefits package, especially when it helps a family. On and near-site childcare is advantageous to all." Cupertino Mayor Wally Dean also made an appearance to voice support of the group's actions and to let them know that the city is committed to families and to quality childcare. He said that an emphasis of his mayoral term will focus on children, so he'll do what he can to help the potential arrangement become a reality. The childcare company is currently located in a center on Portal Avenue and cares for 94 children--mostly from area high-tech employees. The center originally began as a daycare facility solely for Apple Computer in 1988. In 1993 Bright Horizons was hired to manage the facility, and in July of this year Apple left the arrangement, leaving Bright Horizons as the owner and manager of the center. It leases the site from the Cupertino Union School District, which, according to Bright Horizons, continues to engage in short-term lease commitments because of the possibility that the district will need the space back. Bright Horizons' lease expires in July 2000, and it may be able to get other short-term leases from the district afterwards. But Bright Horizons wants a long-term home in the West Valley. With an uncertain future at the current site, the company is looking for potential partners just as the businesses are looking to it for childcare. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 16, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.