Mazda Toyota employees begin enrolling in new child care assistance program

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - Mazda Toyota Manufacturing and TOOTRiS are joining forces to ensure employees have affordable, quality and convenient childcare.

Mazda Toyota is offering up to $250 a month in child care benefits to their employees if they select a provider on TOOTRiS, an online child care platform with more than 180,000 licensed providers. The Huntsville/Madison Chamber of Commerce helped connect TOOTRiS to Mazda Toyota Manufacturing.

“For more than three decades, the child care system has been very broken,” said Alessandra Lezama, TOOTRiS CEO. “And we’ve come in to reinvent it and to provide a solution for every stakeholder in the child care system. Not only for providers and parents, but also for employers that need to incorporate child care solutions to bring back their workforce…”

TOOTRiS will create and manage a Child Care Assistance Program for MTM, and provide its team members access to hundreds of licensed child care options near their home or work. The majority of the providers are smaller, family care homes that most parents don’t normally know how to find.

“TOOTRiS is reinventing child care, making it convenient, affordable and on demand, which really means that we are a platform that helps connect parents and providers in real time and helps them do everything that they need online,” Lezama said.

MTM Project Manager Tony Dillon said his team was thrilled when they heard childcare benefits were on the way. He hopes the partnership provides some relief.

“It’s really exciting for Mazda Toyota Manufacturing because we have been looking for solutions to this very difficult, challenging situation for our team members,” Dillon said. “But also, really within the broader aspect of the community and the needs of the community.”

MTM has over 3,000 employees and plans to hire up to 1,000 more by the end of the year. Partnering with TOOTRiS helps leaders meet the needs of existing employees, and also attracts new employees who want great benefits.

“I hope this is long-term, that is certainly the expectation,” Dillon said. “That is what we are planning for...a long-term partnership that grows overtime and I really think it is heading that way because the passion of TOOTRiS in this space of child care is unbelievable. They really want to make a difference.”

Interested candidates can apply to work at Mazda Toyota Manufacturing by visiting MazdaToyota.com. If you’d like to learn more about TOOTRiS, visit tootris.com.

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