Burke County Smart Start

What Burke County Smart Start does

Burke County Smart Start, Inc. is a private nonprofit organization operating as the local Smart Start partnership in Burke County, North Carolina, headquartered at 304 West Union Street in Morganton. It is part of the statewide North Carolina Smart Start network and is governed by an 18-member community board representing parents, health care, public agencies, private businesses, faith communities, child care centers, educational institutions, civic organizations, and law enforcement, with Executive Director Kathy S. Smith leading operations. The organization serves children from birth to age five and their families through a portfolio of publicly funded programs, including Burke NC Pre-K, child care subsidies and resource/referral services (via Child Care Connections), the WAGE$ educator salary supplement program, the Part Day Program (STEPS Academy) housed in three Burke County Public Schools, Burke Family Literacy and ESL programs, and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Rather than operating a technology platform, Burke County Smart Start functions as a fiscal intermediary and service coordinator, blending and leveraging state Smart Start allocations, NC Pre-K state funding, and community partner resources to deliver services through contract partners including the Burke County Literacy Council, Burke County Public Schools, Child Care Connections, and Burke County Libraries.

Name

Burke County Smart Start

Legal name

Burke County Smart Start, Inc.

Website

https://smartstartkids.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Burke County Smart Start is a local North Carolina nonprofit partnership that administers publicly funded early childhood programs—NC Pre-K, child care subsidies, family literacy, and Imagination Library—for children birth to age five and their families in Burke County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Morganton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Infrastructure

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Burke County Smart Start is a local nonprofit partnership that funds and coordinates early childhood programs for children ages birth to five and their families in Burke County, North Carolina. Core services include child care resource and referral, child care subsidies, the NC Pre-K program, family literacy and ESL programs, the WAGE$ salary supplement for child care teachers, Part Day Program (STEPS Academy), and Dolly Parton's Imagination Library book gifting program.

Product overview

Burke County Smart Start operates as a partnership organization offering a portfolio of early childhood development programs and services. The core offerings include child care resource and referral services, child care subsidy programs, the WAGE$ salary supplement program, Part Day Program (STEPS Academy), Burke NC Pre-K Program, program evaluation services, and family literacy programs including Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. These programs work together to support children from birth to age five and their families in Burke County by providing educational, financial, and resource support services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Child Care Resource & Referral Services

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Burke County Literacy CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides family literacy and ESL programs to parents of children birth to five. The Motheread program is provided to families of children prenatal to five. Contact: Browning Rochefort at 828-437-7477.
• Burke County Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners for the Part Day Program (STEPS Academy) and NC Pre-K program. Three Part Day Program classrooms are placed in schools within the county for children ages three to five not enrolled in child care.
• Child Care ConnectionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe local CCR&R service provides referral services to families for locating child care resources and choosing quality care. Also administers child care subsidy funds for eligible families and the provider insurance benefit package.
• Burke NC Pre-K ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState-administered pre-kindergarten program providing quality educational experiences to enhance kindergarten readiness for four-year-old children at risk of school failure. Funded through state NC Pre-K allocations.
• Region 9 Child Care Resource & ReferralminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional CCR&R service providing referral services to families. Contact: Region 9 CCR&R, 877-670-8735; https://www.iredellsmartstart.org/region9ccrr
• Dolly Parton's Imagination LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProgram dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting free books to children from birth to age five. Funded jointly by Dolly Parton's foundation and local community partners. Burke County Smart Start coordinates local enrollment.
• Burke County LibrariesminorOthersLocal public libraries participate in the partnership board and support early childhood literacy initiatives through the Imagination Library program.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Dolly Parton's Imagination Library: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is the national book-gifting program that BCSS coordinates locally for Burke County children birth to five. It is an ecosystem/partner peer because BCSS depends on the program's content and co-funding, and the Imagination Library is a directly comparable early-childhood literacy intervention delivered through community partners.
• Burke County Literacy Council: Burke County Literacy Council is a local adult and family literacy nonprofit that delivers Motheread, ESL, and family literacy programs to Burke County families with young children. It is an ecosystem peer because it is a direct contracted partner delivering BCSS-funded family literacy services and shares BCSS's target population of at-risk birth-to-five families.
• Child Care Resources Inc. (Burke/McDowell CCR&R): Child Care Resources Inc. is a regional Child Care Resource & Referral agency that administers subsidy, referral, and WAGE$-style workforce supports for early childhood providers in western North Carolina. It is an ecosystem peer to BCSS because BCSS partners with its contracted local CCR&R (Child Care Connections) to deliver those same family-facing services.

Direct peers

• Mecklenburg County Smart Start: Mecklenburg County Smart Start is a direct peer Smart Start partnership serving children birth to five in Mecklenburg County with NC Pre-K, child care resource & referral, and family support programs. It is comparable because it delivers the same publicly funded portfolio of early childhood services through a community partnership model, differing only in geographic scale.
• Wake County Smart Start: Wake County Smart Start is a direct peer Smart Start affiliate that administers publicly funded NC Pre-K, child care resource & referral, and family support services for Wake County children birth to five. It is comparable to BCSS as a county-level Smart Start partnership with the same programmatic and funding model.
• Iredell County Smart Start: Iredell County Smart Start is a direct peer local Smart Start affiliate in North Carolina that administers the same statewide mix of NC Pre-K, child care subsidy, WAGE$, Imagination Library, and family literacy programs for its county. It is directly comparable because it shares BCSS's funding model, program portfolio, and operating playbook under the Smart Start statewide framework.
• Guilford County Smart Start: Guilford County Smart Start is a direct peer NC Smart Start local partnership offering NC Pre-K, child care subsidies, and family support in Guilford County. It mirrors BCSS's mission, funding structure, and program mix under the same statewide Smart Start framework.

Broad incumbents

• The North Carolina Partnership for Children (Smart Start): The North Carolina Partnership for Children is the statewide nonprofit that houses the Smart Start initiative and funds and coordinates the network of county partnerships including Burke County Smart Start. It is a broad incumbent comparable to BCSS because it sets the program model, funding allocation framework, and evaluation standards that BCSS operates within.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/burke_inc
• Facebookfacebook.com/burkecountysmartstart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/burke-county-smart-start-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Burke County Smart Start