Brian Gutman Webinar Protecting Your Private Center Key Takeaways
If you are a private childcare owner or director trying to stay ahead of licensing changes, UPK/VPK expansion, or workforce policy shifts, this conversation between Tony D’Agostino of Inspire Care 360 and Brian Gutman of Learning Care Group delivers the practical guidance you need.
This webinar recap focuses on one core question:
What can private center owners actually do to protect their business and navigate the policy changes coming their way?
Who Is Brian Gutman?
Brian Gutman is the Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations at Learning Care, the second-largest for-profit childcare provider in North America, operating over 1,100 schools across 40 states and DC.
Brian’s team works directly with state regulators and federal policymakers on behalf of the private childcare industry. When licensing rules shift, UPK programs expand, or subsidy rates change in your state, Brian is often one of the first people in those conversations.
Where Should a Private Center Owner Start with Advocacy?
Most center owners feel that policy is someone else’s job. Brian says it doesn’t have to be complicated.
The starting point is your state elected officials:
- Find out who your state representative and state senator are. Most state legislature websites have a tool where you enter your address and get your district representatives
- Do this for both your home address and your business address
- Then make sure they know who you are, before you ever need something from them
The worst time to meet a lawmaker is when you need a favor. Build the relationship first.
How Much Time Does This Actually Take?
Brian’s answer is reassuring for busy operators:
- You do not need to make advocacy a second job
- Quality over quantity is the rule, one or two close relationships with lawmakers will outperform surface-level contact with fifteen
- Even an hour a month, spent consistently, can make a real difference when it counts
Focus your time on the people who represent where you live and work, and the chairs of the committees that regulate childcare in your state.
Why You Should Invite Lawmakers to Your Center
A center tour is one of the most powerful tools available to any private center owner. Brian’s team conducts roughly 40 lawmaker tours per year. You can do this too.
What makes a great lawmaker tour:
- Let your director lead it — they know the business best
- Keep it to an hour or less — lawmakers have packed schedules
- Know your data — how many families, how many staff, how long you’ve been in the community
- End with a classroom reading — have 2–3 age-appropriate books pre-selected for your 3- or 4-year-old classroom
- Follow up within 48 hours — send photos, reference what was discussed, and keep the relationship moving
One important note: confirm photo release authorization with families before any lawmaker visits.
Does Testimony Actually Matter?
Yes, but probably not in the way you think.
Testimony rarely changes a lawmaker’s mind in the moment.
What it does:
- Signals support or opposition on an issue
- Creates an official record
- Opens a door for follow-up
If you take the time to prepare testimony, use it beyond the hearing room. Email it to every committee member, whether they were present or not. Reach out to the lawmakers you’ve already built relationships with and ask them to help elevate your concerns to colleagues.
Testimony alone is not enough. It is a starting point, not a finish line
How to Push Back on Policy Without Risking Your Licensing Relationship
Many center owners fear that speaking up will put a target on their back with their licensor. Brian calls this concern “very fair and real” and offers a clear framework for navigating it.
Treat conflict with your licensing agency the same way you’d handle conflict with families or staff:
- Raise concerns professionally, not personally
- Stick to the facts — avoid dramatic or emotional framing
- Avoid surprises — show up constructively, with an improvement mindset
When criticism needs to be strong, consider whether a childcare association or coalition of providers can make the case more effectively on your behalf, where you are one of many voices rather than a single operator drawing attention.
How to Frame Your Position So It Lands
This is where Brian says smaller providers struggle most, and it’s not intentional.
Whether you’re writing testimony, meeting with a lawmaker, or pushing back on a regulation:
- Start with children and families
- A poorly designed UPK program doesn’t just hurt your revenue; it can destabilize pricing for infants and toddlers and price families out of care entirely
- A compensation mandate without funding can look like it supports teachers while actually threatening the centers they work in
- Your goal is not to stop a bill; it is to help lawmakers get the design right
That framing changes how you are received.
The Single Highest-Leverage Action You Can Take in the Next 30 Days
Brian’s answer is direct: reach out to one lawmaker and ask for a meeting.
Not to make an ask. Not to oppose anything. Just to introduce yourself and start a relationship.
- Know your elevator pitch, who you are and why you do what you do
- Have 2–3 things on your mind to share
- Ask what they are focused on
- Follow up within 48 hours with a note and anything you promised to send
Tony added one more tip from personal experience: build a relationship with the lawmaker’s assistant, too. That person is often the pathway to every future meeting and event.
What's Coming in the Next Legislative Cycle
Brian’s team is tracking three major areas heading into next session:
- Ownership structures of childcare — expect significant legislative attention
- Expansion of public pre-K programs — this will remain heavily contested
- Tax policy reform — real opportunity exists to reduce the cost of care through the tax code
Learning Care expects to be deeply engaged in approximately 25 states next session. If you haven’t started building your relationships with policymakers yet, now is the time.
Final Takeaway
Private center owners have more influence in policy conversations than most of them realize. The path to that influence starts with a single relationship, built before you ever need to use it.
Show up consistently. Frame everything around children and families. Follow up every time.
That is what actually works.
Watch the Full Webinar Replay
This conversation is part of Inspire Care 360’s ongoing ECE Webinar Series, bringing practical insight directly to childcare owners and directors.
If you are a:
- Childcare owner or multi-site operator
- Center director navigating licensing or UPK/VPK changes
- Early childhood leader who wants a seat at the policy table
This is a conversation worth watching.
Learn More About
Inspire Care 360
Feeling overwhelmed running your childcare business? Inspire Care 360 is your supportive community offering business solutions, professional development, health care for employees and expert guidance to help you thrive. Contact us today - you deserve it!
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