Efforts to improve child care availability and affordability in the region received a major boost this week when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that the MI Tri-Share Child Care pilot program would expand to seven new facilitator hubs across the state, including the Marquette-Alger Educational Regional Service Agency. It was MARESA's partnership with Northern Michigan University—the first local employer to sign up for the program—that helped to secure $300,000 from the state for the hub's pilot year.