Graduation Year

2015

Graduation Month

May

Document Type

Professional Paper

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

School or Department

Business School

Major

Management

Faculty Mentor Department

Business School

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Bambi Douma

Faculty Reader(s)

Dr. Bambi Douma

Keywords

Market, Demand, Toddler, Infant, Child, Care

Subject Categories

Advertising and Promotion Management | Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations

Abstract

In order to test the hypothesis that there are not enough high quality infant toddler care programs in Missoula to meet the demand of the market, creating an opportunity for a local child care provider to open a high quality infant toddler program as part of the child care services that they offer, an observational study of the current infant toddler care programs in Missoula, Montana was conducted. Spirit at Play, a child care center in Missoula, Montana, is evaluating the current child care market in Missoula to see if, and how many, quality infant toddler programs are being offered and if there is an opportunity for Spirit at Play to enter this market by opening their own infant toddler care program to serve children ages six weeks through two years old. A quality checklist was created and used in program visitations to evaluate the quality level of one third of the infant toddler programs in Missoula. Due to the results of the study, it has been determined that there is an opportunity for Spirit at Play to expand its current services into infant toddler care. The results of this research were used to develop a business plan for the organization.

Honors College Research Project

Yes

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© Copyright 2015 Jennifer A. Keller