Page1 Publications

Lil’ Chompers takes shape in Greenbush

Samantha Alme
samantha.tribunepaper@gmail.com

For years, Lil’ Chompers Child Care existed largely as an idea—a need recognized by local families, a collection of plans, countless meetings, grant applications, fundraisers and a whole lot of hope.

Today, that dream has walls.

Construction of the new Lil’ Chompers Child Care facility in Greenbush continues to make visible progress, marking an exciting chapter for a project that organizers have been working toward since 2021.

The latest construction update, dated Sept. 15, shows just how quickly the building and surrounding site are beginning to come together. The city walking path grading and asphalt have been completed, along with the final course of asphalt in the parking lot. The first round of roof trusses has also been delivered and installed, with wall and roof sheathing moving forward as materials arrive. Roofing materials were expected on site this week, stone exterior panels were preparing to ship, and windows were expected within the next several weeks.

Construction photos included with the report offer perhaps the best indication of just how far the project has come. Where there was once an empty lot, the outline of a substantial new building now stands, complete with framed walls and a roofline beginning to take shape.

And behind every board and roof truss is a much larger goal: helping make Greenbush a community where families can live, work and raise their children.

Lil’ Chompers was founded in 2021 in response to the need for additional child care in the area. Plans call for an approximately 5,500-square-foot licensed child care facility with two infant rooms, a toddler room, a preschool room and additional space that could be used for preschool, before- and after-school care, summer care or school-age programming. Previous project updates indicated the center plans to serve around 60 children, depending on ages and licensing capacity, ranging from infants as young as six weeks through children age 13. 

That means the impact of the project could reach far beyond the children who walk through its doors each morning.

Reliable child care allows parents to work, helps local businesses retain employees and gives young families another reason to put down roots in a rural community. LifeCare Medical Center President and CEO Keith Okeson highlighted that connection when LifeCare contributed $25,000 to the project in 2025, pointing to reliable child care as important to both families and the economic stability of the community. 

Lil’ Chompers leaders have also envisioned the facility as something more than a place where children spend the day.

Its location near LifeCare Greenbush Manor opens the door for intergenerational programming that will bring some of the community’s youngest and oldest residents together.

“We are taking an intergenerational approach,” Lil’ Chompers President Karen Dvergsten told the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, explaining that the neighboring facilities will allow children and Greenbush Manor residents to learn and interact together. 

Those interactions could ultimately become one of the most special pieces of the project—giving children additional adults to learn from and build relationships with while giving Manor residents regular opportunities to connect with little ones growing up in their community.

Lil’ Chompers has already demonstrated that its vision extends beyond the walls of the future center. This summer, the organization hosted a free Dollipops children's concert at Legion Park, an event made possible through Northwest Minnesota Arts Council funding and open to families throughout the community.

Getting to this point, however, has taken years of persistence.

The project has been supported through a combination of government funding, grants, donations, fundraising and community support. Earlier this year, Lil’ Chompers reported securing $1 million in congressional funding and $240,000 through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, in addition to private donations and grants. 

In February, the project reached another major milestone when construction bids were opened. Months later, construction equipment is on site and what once existed on architectural drawings is becoming something families can actually see.

There is still work ahead. Roof trusses, sheathing, roofing, windows and exterior finishes remain among the work underway or approaching. The Sept. 15 construction report also notes preparations for mechanical and electrical work, exterior lighting and the eventual installation of the facility’s propane tank.

But for a project that began years ago with a group of people recognizing a need, each new wall represents progress.

Child care may happen inside a classroom, but its effects ripple throughout an entire community. It can mean a parent accepting a job instead of turning one down because care isn't available. It can mean a family deciding they can stay in their hometown. It can mean children beginning school already connected to their community—and, through Lil’ Chompers' plans for intergenerational programming, perhaps making a few unlikely friends along the way.

For Greenbush, the wooden framework rising from the construction site represents more than another new building.

It represents an investment in the people who will fill it—and in the future of the community they will call home.