“We experienced firsthand the joys and the very real fears of dropping our kids off at daycare,” shared Tricia Luck. Being a mom of five children, foster parent to more than 100 children and a grandma, Tricia Luck is passionate about her and her husband Blain’s recent venture: Blue Haven Kids Academy LLC.
The Lucks have nearly three decades of caring for children between their own and others. Tricia provided child care in their home while their sons were young and briefly when they first became licensed foster parents. After she decided to discontinue providing child care and worked outside their home, they relied on child care providers, both in home and centers, for their foster children. Experiences in 2019 and 2020 were pivotal for the couple. In 2019, their first grandson was born, and in 2020, they concluded their 12-year foster care journey when they adopted their two daughters, who were in their care. After having their daughters in daycare and helping to find care for their grandson, they made the decision to start Blue Haven Kids Academy.
The timing of their decision worked well. In May 2024, they were able to finalize the purchase of an existing 7,000 square-foot daycare center, including its building, and began to transform it into Blue Haven Kids Academy LLC. The academy cares for children up to age 12, but the primary age groups are infant through age 5. The Lucks leave openings in some of their rooms, so they can accommodate foster parents in need of child care at short-term notice. They also want to maintain a solid balance with staff and relationships with the kids and their families.
“We’ve had parents tell us, and we kind of feel it too, that we’re big enough to be a center, but yet we’re more of a family,” explained Tricia. “We make sure all our employees know all the kids. I don’t ever want a child to not know an adult in our building. Any of our teachers could step into any room for another teacher and cover for them if they needed, and it not be traumatic to a child.”
The Lucks currently employ 28 people at the academy and are seeking additional employees who share their vision on what child care should be. Nutritious meals are cooked in an on-site kitchen, and all six classrooms provide curriculum through “Teaching Strategies” and hands-on learning opportunities. There are also indoor and outdoor play areas with age-appropriate spaces.
Like any new venture, there are challenges to overcome. Some of these challenges include staffing, budgeting for improvements and updates, and the time investment – often sacrificing family time to ensure the business tasks are handled. These challenges also come with rewards. Tricia shared, “I love every one of these kiddos that are here. I can just walk by a hallway, and they yell for me, and I get hugs from them. So for me, it’s easy. I get rewarded every time I walk into a classroom.”
The road to opening the academy was filled with lots of questions and various pieces coming together to bring it to fruition. To start the process, the Lucks turned to their local lender Gate City Bank. The process included creating a business plan with phases and discussing different funding options, all under the guidance of the Gate City Bank team.
Together, they came up with a funding package that included Gate City Bank’s BetterLife™ Child Care Business Loan, North Dakota Development Fund, and Bank of North Dakota’s PACE Program, as well as buydown assistance from Lewis and Clark Development Group. Gate City Bank Business Banker Austin Hawkinson shared, “Thanks to our joint efforts, as well as Bank of North Dakota’s PACE Program, the daycare can put more money toward business operations instead of the loan payment. Not to mention, Bank of North Dakota’s involvement has also promoted a level of risk mitigation that opens the door to new business financing opportunities.”
Bank of North Dakota Business Banker Andrew Tweet adds, “It’s rewarding that collaboratively we were able to come together and build a financing package to help the Lucks and Blue Haven Kids Academy get started. Child care is a huge need in the area. It’s clear that the Lucks are dedicated to their work at Blue Haven Kids Academy.”
In regard to their mission, Blain expressed, “We want our story to resonate with it too. Even down to the name Blue Haven Kids Academy, it rings true. We could’ve named it whatever we wanted, but we just wanted haven – safe. That’s what we want when parents drop their kids off is to know they’re safe.”
