Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Lee Container President Robert Varnedoe Inaugurate New Day Care Facility in Centerville.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg visited Centerville on Tuesday, October 31^st to join Lee Container President Robert Varnedoe for a ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new Curious Kids Day Care Center.

On August 1st, the Centerville School Board announced the purchase of the former Garfield Elementary School by a Lee Container affiliated company.  The school building will now house a day care center to serve the families of Lee Container employees, as well as Centerville area families. The day care center will be staffed and operated by Curious Kids, a long-time Centerville day care operator headed by Michelle Brooke.

Governor Reynolds greeted daycare staff, families and community leaders. “I’m really proud to be here. I’d like to thank Robert and Michelle and the rest of the Curious Kids staff. We want to acknowledge how impressed we were to see one of the community’s major employers step up and help provide solutions to its most important aspect: its workforce,” Reynolds added. “It’s the pure definition of an exemplary corporate citizen. With great vision and generosity, Lee Container recognized the need to provide childcare not only to your employees but to the entire community.”

“As we’ve grown and prospered in Centerville, we’ve come to know the community and make many new friends here in Iowa,” Lee Container President Robert Varnedoe commented. “In the past 10 years, our Centerville facility has grown from 2 production lines and 25 employees to 16 production lines and over 200 employees.”

Robert Varnedoe added “We believe in investing in our employees with good pay, great benefits and many opportunities to succeed as we grow and prosper. Looking to the future, we are studying ways that Lee Container can participate in the Future Ready Iowa programs in areas such as apprenticeships and internships.”

Curious Kids Daycare is open today for Centerville area families. For more information about Curious Kids Daycare call 641-895-7488. For more information about Lee Container in Centerville please call 641-856-6123.