The Drop Off: EPIC Conversations About the Workforce of Today and the Talent of Tomorrow

Ep. 15: Colin Stewart on the Realities of Owning a Childcare Facility

Colin Stewart is the Founder & CEO of STEM Child Care, a facility in Castle Rock, CO dedicated to providing an environment that is both safe and nurturing for children from six weeks to six years old, allowing your child to explore their passions and creativity while cultivating their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills.
On this episode of The Drop Off, Colin joins Nicole Riehl to discuss his unusual journey into creating and developing this facility, the interesting economic realities and challenges of child care facilities, recent policy changes and much more. Colin brings a dynamic perspective, an impressive background, and tremendous insight into everything he throws himself into, and this conversation with Nicole is no exception.
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 14: A Live Fireside Chat featuring Natriece Bryant and Elliot Haspel

On October 4, EPIC brought together Colorado business leaders across industries to celebrate “Today’s Vision, Tomorrow’s Success” EPIC’s 14th Annual Business Leaders Dinner. The event was a tremendous success with over 220 area business leaders, EPIC members, and partners in attendance. In case you were not able to join, part of the evening featured a Fireside Chat with Natriece Bryant, Director of State Property for the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administraion and Elliot Haspel, Director, Climate and Young Children at Capita. They brought unique perspectives on early care and education solutions at the local, state and national level. 
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 13: Ryan Beiser on PNC Bank’s Commitment to Early Childhood

Ryan Beiser is Regional President and Head of Corporate Banking for PNC. PNC is constantly innovating to help their clients succeed and to have a big impact in Denver. They provide their customers with new ideas, offer valuable insight and create customized solutions that will help propel a business forward. Ryan is also Chairman of the Board for EPIC.
On this episode of The Drop Off, Ryan joins Nicole Riehl to discuss PNC's deep commitment to early childhood education and care, how their philanthropic giving contributes to solving larger systemic problems in society, and how they empower their employees to advocate for the causes they most believe in. He discusses his involvement with EPIC, with other civic organizations, and describes how EPIC is uniquely suited to continue to be at the forefront of many of the state's most important conversations. 
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 12: Christine Benero on Mile High United Way’s Game Changing Project

Christine Benero is the President & CEO of Mile High United Way. On the About page of their website, they describe themselves thusly: "Working side-by-side with the community, Mile High United Way takes on critical human services issues facing our seven-county footprint including the Metro Denver, Boulder, and Broomfield communities. Through our community programs and initiatives, we focus on our three interconnected Community Priorities: giving all children a strong start, supporting education and academic success, and creating economic opportunity for all."
On this episode of The Drop-Off, Christine joins Nichole Riehl to discuss her personal and professional journey that led to her leading Mile High United Way, digs into the work of Mile High United Way, and spends the bulk of the episode talking about their game-changing new project of putting on-site childcare at their Denver office location. She shares insights about duplicative regulatory processes, uncovering gaps in the system, and divulges the deep need for childcare solutions across the region's business community. 
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 11: Stacie Packard on the Intertwining of Affordable Housing and Childcare

Stacie Packard is President of Delwest Management Corp, a Denver-based real estate development firm focused on creating value within local communities through a unique combination of leadership and partnership. With a portfolio including multi-family rental properties (both luxury and affordable), whole communities of single-family homes, and renovated historical homes and buildings, Delwest is considered by its urban, federal and financial partners to be among the top metro-area real estate development companies.
On this episode of The Drop-Off, Stacie shares her personal and professional journey that involves understanding affordable housing from a multitude of angles. She joins Nicole Riehl to discuss how childcare and affordable housing are interrelated, how her company is working on innovative solutions to these issues, and why the work of EPIC is so vital.
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 10: Linda Weise, Champion of Arts, Inspires Kids

Linda Weise is the President and CEO of the Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective, a 501C3 dedicated solely to the preservation and revitalization of the historic Colorado Springs City Auditorium. She is also the Founding CEO of the Colorado Springs Conservatory (CSC). She established the Conservatory in 1994 to bring world-class performing arts education to the region.
On this episode of The Drop-Off, Linda shares her professional journey that took her from performing to business to making the entrepreneurial leap. She joins Nicole Riehl to discuss issues pertinent to the arts and to early childhood, shares how the challenges have changed in the last 30 years, and how she came to be inspired by EPIC to be more involved at the State Capitol. 
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 9: Brad Busse on the Origin and Future of EPIC

Brad Busse, President of Busse Ventures, was there for the founding of EPIC. In this episode of The Drop-Off, Brad gives everyone a behind-the-scenes look at the formation of EPIC and how a group of powerful, like-minded business leaders came together when they saw that child-care supply was a major challenge. In his estimation, it is imperative the business community support early childhood education not only for the benefit of all Colorado families, but to "home-grow as many well-balanced employees as possible.” In this conversation, Brad joins our Host, President and CEO of EPIC, Nicole Riehl to discuss the early days of EPIC, stresses the importance of early childhood education, celebrates the organization's many accomplishments, and looks to the future. 
 
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 8: Lisa Steven of Hope House on the Honor of Being an EPIC Partner of Promise

This month we met with Lisa Steven, Founder and Executive Director of Hope House Colorado and EPIC Executive Member. Hope House serves over 250 teen moms teaching how to achieve personal and economic self-sufficiency. Lisa explains that, “we don’t know where we would be without EPIC” and the opportunity to be a Project of Promise has been critical to remove the barriers and challenges of child care.
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 7: Adeeb Khan Believes in the Impacts of Giving Kids “A Good Start”

From oral health to universal pre-school, Delta Dental of Colorado Foundation's Adeeb Khan tells EPIC CEO and President, Nicole Riehl, how we all can have positive longterm outcomes by investing in children at an early age. Listen in as Adeeb explains how getting kids “set up on the right track” will help our workforce to be better off in the long run. 
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe. 

Ep. 6: Outgoing Chair David Hammond Discusses Pandemic Silver Linings in the Future of Child Care

David Hammond served as EPIC’s Board Chair from 2019 to 2022 and has been critical to the organization’s growth and development since its inception in 2010. In this podcast, David tells Nicole about his interest in early childhood education and advocacy since he was a young father and the strategies that have been key to support the early childhood system in Colorado. 
David explains that emerging leaders now have powerful arguments around the need for high quality child care and how it was a “silver lining during the pandemic" to highlighting this critical need. EPIC is happy that David will remain on EPIC’s board and his emerging opportunities outside of the child care realm because building stronger, safer communities is crucial.
This episode is available on podcatchers everywhere and the EPIC website. Please rate, review and subscribe.