Barriers to Work

What childcare options are available in Clinton County? What is the capacity for expanding those options? What stands in the way of that expansion? Barriers to Work is bringing together childcare providers, training and education providers, and employers to think creatively about ways to address the critical shortage of quality, affordable childcare for the Clinton County workforce.

Barriers to Work held a lunch and learn with local employers to address concerns around transportation for the Clinton County workforce. We will continue to monitor the issue and revisit the conversation as needed, but at the time there was little interest in investing in a community transportation program outside of the Wilmington Transit System.

With assistance from the Clinton County Port Authority (one of the Clinton County Workforce Collaborative’s partner organizations), the Clinton County Board of Commissioners engaged a firm to conduct a Broadband Feasibility Study. That study will serve as the basis for a plan to undertake the infrastructure work needed to build out broadband capacity throughout the county. Work is expected to commence in Summer 2023.

Based on a Housing Needs Assessment undertaken by the Clinton County Port Authority (one of the Clinton County Workforce Collaborative’s partner organizations), work has begun on five different housing developments in the county, at a variety of price points, with other single- and multi-family developments in the exploratory phase. Housing development work within the City of Wilmington is encouraged by an incentive package agreed upon by the City and Wilmington City Schools, and negotiated by the Clinton County Port Authority. The work of the Clinton County Land Reutilization Corporation (“Land Bank”) plays another vital role in increasing housing stock throughout the county.