BUSINESS
Updated: 11/25/04
Owners
Daffony and Walt Bullard and Gloria and Rick Field
dig in at
the groundbreaking ceremony for Field of Dreams,
the
preschool they are building in Baxter.
Jonathan
Allen/Fort Mill TImes
Day
care center breaks ground
By Eileen
Bradway Fort Mill Times
(Published November 25, 2004)
FORT
MILL -- A new child care center in Baxter Town Center that is
expected to bring at least 50 jobs held a Nov. 19 ground
breaking ceremony.
The Field
of Dreams Nurture and Education Center is expected to open in
the spring, said Rick Field of Tega Cay, who is opening the
center with his wife Gloria and Walt and Daffony Bullard of Fort
Mill.
The
center, to be located next to the new Weston YMCA, will be more
than 15,000 square feet and offer more than just child care.
Parents
will be able to drop off and pick up their dry cleaning at the
center along with their children, Rick Field said. They'll be
able to buy milk and bread to avoid a last-minute stop at the
grocery store. And, for those interested in having dinner
prepared for them, they can place an order in the morning and
pick up a heat-and-eat meal later in the day. Field said since
the center already has a commercial kitchen, it made sense to
extend its use to help harried parents.
"The whole
idea there is just to save time for parents," Field said.
The center
expects 250 children in its 6-weeks-to-5-years programs;
children in the after-school program will be added later, Field
said.
"When
we're fully ramped up, we'll have over 300 (children)," Field
said, adding the center has already started taking
pre-registration applications.
The 50
staff positions will be a combination of management,
administration and teaching jobs. The center's owners are
working with York Technical College and Winthrop University and
their career placement programs to hire staffers, he said.
Besides
York and Winthrop, Field has consulted with childhood education
experts from the state education department and the University
of South Carolina about their programs.
This is
the first child care center for any of the owners, all of whom
have business backgrounds. Rick Field has worked in the software
industry for 25 years, while Gloria Field has worked in the
legal field, focusing on real estate. Daffony Bullard also has
worked in the software industry, and Walt Bullard is in
pharmaceutical sales.
The
Fields, who have three children, and the Bullards, who have two
children, will have offices at the site.
"We will
be focusing on managing the business side, allowing our early
childhood education experts to focus on the nurturing and
education programs," Field said in an e-mail.
Baxter
already is home to Beef O'Brady's, SweeTreats Ice Cream and
Coffee, law offices, a cleaners and salon, among other
businesses. The first house in Baxter was built in 1998.
By 2009
Baxter should be complete, with 1,325 homes and businesses. The
development also includes an elementary school, the Fort Mill
public library and a Piedmont urgent care center.
For
registration or program information, go to
www.fieldofdreamscenter.com.
