Lead Donor Profile: Jim Krieger draws on his business background to advocate for early childhood

By Mary Kay Roth

Jim Krieger grew up with a mother who believed in quality early childcare, a woman far ahead of her time. What’s more, she talked the talk and walked the walk – working in Lincoln’s high-poverty schools during the early 1960’s. 
 
His mother’s beliefs have helped shape Jim’s life, professionally and personally. As a young man he landed a job with Don Clifton at SRI Research Center, which eventually led to an opportunity to support one of the first businesses in Lincoln to facilitate early childcare for its employees.  
 
Today Jim is retired but has become a lifelong advocate of early childcare and continues to preach its merits.
 
He explains that after majoring in business administration and finance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he left his first accounting job when given a chance to work for Don Clifton and SRI, a company that would eventually merge with Gallup.  
 
He started at the company in 1978 and watched the business grow, move into bigger buildings, eventually constructing an entire campus at 70th and O streets. And as the company exploded in size, Jim worked his way up to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. 
 
In 1981, the company had the notion of an on-site early childcare center. Jim had the perfect background to support the initiative. 
 
“Jim lost his dad in 1967 when he was only 14 years old, and his mom was left with two children to support,” Jim’s wife, Penny, reflected. “She was a school nurse and became very involved with Head Start.” 
 
“Years later, when Jim was at Gallup, he was very much aware of how employer-supported childcare benefited both the families and the businesses where they worked.”  
 
Jim described his mom as an early pioneer and champion of nurses and early education in public schools, as well as a powerful leader in supporting healthcare and childcare for families in poverty.  
 
“If there was a health initiative proposed for kids or infants, mom was always the first one to set it up,” he said. “She kept medical equipment in the back of her car and after dinner I’d go with her when she would go into homes to test children for things like hearing problems.”  
 
In 1962 his mom was offered the opportunity to help set up and work the health care component of Head Start centered at Elliott Elementary and five other public schools, one of the very earliest national childcare programs in the country.  
 
“So, you can imagine when people in the Gallup office started talking about establishing a full-time early childcare center and I had grown up learning about the value of quality childcare,” said Jim. “I had positive memories of the support it could give children and families.”  
 
Eventually Jim took on the financial end of the Gallup childcare center and was responsible for ensuring the company was fiscally responsible in their childcare operation – and he credits much of that early success to bringing in fierce local childcare advocates such as Jane Ericson, Helen Raikes, Connie Rath and Mary Reckmeyer. 
 
“Jim made it happen, his voice was huge,” said Mary.  
 
“Back in the day, companies may have believed that providing childcare was a good idea, but they would look at the upfront costs, not the potential benefits and outcomes,” she continued. “Jim, however, was the financial guy and he believed childcare was the right thing to do. He always said, ‘Let’s figure it out.’ He gave us credibility.”  
 
Although Jim is retired, he continues to believe childcare is a unique employee engagement and recruitment tool.  
 
“When we were recruiting and trying to attract business leaders to Gallup, childcare gave us something extra to offer,” he said. “And there were additional benefits, as it also cut down on employee loss, so our business didn’t have to rehire and retrain.” 
 
Anne Brandt, executive director of Lincoln Littles, is honored that Jim now brings this perspective as he works closely with their organization. 
 
“Jim is an incredible partner to Lincoln Littles serving on our Champions of Early Childhood, our Board of Advisors, and Executive Team,” said Anne. “In addition, Jim lends his time by helping us dive deeper into future strategy for businesses. His professional background coupled with past involvement in on-site childcare at Gallup are invaluable.” 
  
These days Jim continues to champion the advantages of offering employees childcare. 
 
“It’s great for employees and their families, but also for a company’s return on investment,” he said. 
 
Jim understands that access to early care and education goes beyond a family or women’s issue – it impacts the entire community. He still attributes his philosophy back to his mother and to what he calls, “an accidental form of education due to what I experienced in those early, important years. That never goes away.”  
 
Jim said his mother trusted people. “Trust your employees and they will do right by you. Honor and support them.” 
 
That’s the way he has lived his own life, and he hopes his story will inspire other businesses to find innovative solutions while keeping their employees top of mind. He recognizes that our community is lucky to have a partner in Lincoln Littles which supports both employees and businesses with their childcare needs.  
 
“I believe in doing whatever you can to take care of your employees.” he said. “I’m so blessed to have been given some very unique opportunities in life. I’d like to make sure others have the same opportunities.” 
 
Jim and his wife, Penny, operate the Krieger Family Foundation established in 2011, focused on the importance and relevancy of learning entrepreneurial skills, supporting and helping develop related programs. The Jim & Penny Krieger Family Foundation is a Lincoln Littles lead donor.