2019 Economic Impact Awards 16-29 Years in Business Winner: Little Sunshine’s Enterprises Inc.

Little Sunshine’s Enterprises Inc. is a business for people – little people.

The company works in child care and early childhood education. Officials boast the use of creative nurturing and up-to-date research that helps to form a successful learning environment.

President Brett Roubal says the company, which does business as Little Sunshine Playhouse and Preschool, opened a new school in O’Fallon in April and plans to open two more later in the year. One school is slated for Broomfield, Colorado, and the other in Gilbert, Arizona.

“The fun part of our rapid growth is that we get the opportunity to provide our fantastic team, curriculum and teaching philosophy to about 150 additional families at each new school. We also get to hire about 30 new employees for each location, adding to the (nearly 700) [national] team members,” Roubal says, noting seven additional schools across the country are under various stages of development on track to open in 2020.

Roubal was previously Little Sunshine’s outside attorney before becoming the president in July.

Little Sunshine currently operates in nine states.

The expansion means additional hiring.

“In 2019, we’ve hired about 60 new employees for our two new schools,” Roubal says.

Outside of the day-to-day operations of child care, Little Sunshine’s is involved in community activities and philanthropic work. Roubal says giving back is a curriculum theme in the schools every November, and that Little Sunshine’s strives for individual community involvement as well as national-level community partnerships. Rochette Dahler, the founder and CEO of Little Sunshine, is also the chairman of the board of The Pediatric Brain Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Little Sunshine’s. The mission of the foundation is to provide financial support to families of children impacted by neurological disorders, brain cancer and traumatic brain injuries.

The company also takes part in local programs like Habitat for Humanity and the Victory Mission and also holds a yearly water drive for Africare.

“The nature of our business ensures that we have something new and evolving every single day. Issues and opportunities are constants that keep our days busy and dynamic. On the other hand, our leadership and culture are steady and consistent,” Roubal says.

“Our company culture of family and collaboration brings everything together. Our corporate team’s primary purpose is to support the leadership, staff and families at our schools across the country.”