At a Zanesville, OH child care center, a term loan or equipment loan can cover classroom furniture, cribs and indoor learning equipment; a vehicle loan can cover a passenger van; and working capital can cover staff for a new room until enrollment fills. Playground equipment, fencing and surfacing are property work outside this site. Rushstead takes the center’s request to funding partners, which set their own terms and decide.
What pays for a new room, indoor classroom equipment or a van at a Muskingum County, OH child care center, with invented figures from rounded payments, an enrollment ramp worked month by month, and child day care counts from County Business Patterns 2023.
Classroom furniture, cribs and indoor learning equipment
Opening a toddler room means buying things a center uses every day for years: tables and chairs at child height, cubbies, shelving, cribs and cots, and indoor learning equipment. The furniture, cribs and indoor equipment are movable equipment. Playground equipment, play yards, fencing and surfacing are site work outside what this site funds.
Illustration only, invented figures: a Zanesville, OH center adds a toddler room. The three pieces below come to $42,300.
| Item | Invented cost |
|---|---|
| Tables, chairs, cubbies and shelving for a toddler room | $8,600 |
| Cribs, cots and bedding for the nap area | $14,200 |
| Indoor learning centers, activity mats and a classroom computer | $19,500 |
| Total | $42,300 |
Spread over five years at a 10.75% annual rate through a term loan, that $42,300 becomes 60 payments of $914.44, $54,866.40 in all. The funding is for the business’s own costs; buying the building or the land is outside what Rushstead arranges.
Centers in this county are not tiny operations. County Business Patterns counted 17 child day care establishments in Muskingum County, OH in 2023 with 331 paid employees, about 19 or 20 per center on our arithmetic. A new room adds teachers to the payroll before the room adds tuition.
A passenger van for field trips and pickups
A van for field trips and school pickups is a vehicle, and it can be financed on its own through equipment financing, with the van as collateral. Before choosing a model, confirm with the center’s insurer what a van used to carry children has to have and who may drive it. A van that the insurer will not cover is an expensive mistake.
Illustration only, invented figures: the center buys a $47,500 passenger van. At a 9.5% annual rate over five years each payment is $997.59, or $59,855.40 by the last one. Shortening the term to four years raises the payment to $1,193.35 and trims $2,574.60 off the total.
- Insurance for the van under the center’s business policy, priced before the purchase.
- Fuel, maintenance and inspections as a monthly line in the budget.
- Driver records and any training the insurer calls for.
- Car seats or restraints that fit the ages being transported.
Staffing new rooms before enrollment fills
A new room has to be staffed on the day it opens, while it may take months to fill. Tuition arrives one child at a time; teachers are paid in full from the first week. That gap is a working capital need, not an equipment one.
Illustration only, invented figures: two teachers for the new room cost the center $5,800 a month. Monthly tuition is $860 a child, and enrollment builds from 4 children in the first month to 10 in the third.
| Month | Children enrolled | Tuition in | Shortfall (or surplus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | 4 | $3,440 | $2,360 |
| Month 2 | 6 | $5,160 | $640 |
| Month 3 | 10 | $8,600 | ($2,800 surplus) |
The room runs short by $3,000 across the first two months and pays its own way in the third. $6,000 of working capital would cover the shortfall with some room for a slower fill. County payroll data give a sense of the wage line: annual payroll at Muskingum County, OH child day care establishments came to $6.8 million in 2023, about $20,400 per paid employee by our arithmetic, a figure that counts part-time staff alongside full-time.
Lease and insurer questions to settle before borrowing
Borrowing before the plan for the new room is settled is the costly order of events. Before signing for furniture or equipment, settle with the landlord and the center’s insurer what the new room and its equipment need. The questions to settle first:
- How many children will the new room hold, and does the insurer need to know?
- Will the insurer want to see the equipment list before the room opens?
- How many teachers will the room need on its first day, and when do they start?
- Does the lease allow the new room, its furniture and the change in use of the space?
- Are there building, fire or zoning sign-offs for the work, and how long do they take?
A funding partner may ask for recent enrollment and tuition records, a few months of bank statements and the quotes for the work. Opening a request is not a credit application; a partner that reviews it can check credit as part of its own process. The industries page has a short note on child care in Muskingum County, OH. Start on the request page, or read more on the blog.
By Rushstead Commercial Capital · Updated
