CALGARY, Nov. 2, 2012 /CNW/ - Edleun Group, Inc. (TSX-V: EDU) ("Edleun" or the "Company"), the leading provider of quality early childhood education and care in Canada, announced today the opening of its second new development of a child care centre. Located in the master planned, southeast Calgary community of McKenzie Towne, this newly developed centre features 247 licensed spaces located in a 24,000 square foot building situated on a 0.8 acre parcel of land.
McKenzie Towne is a growing master planned community and home to more than 16,000 people representing nearly 6,800 dwellings. McKenzie Towne offers its residents a uniquely styled town centre and a sense of community, resulting in it being an attractive destination for families to live. The Edleun centre is well located at the heart of the community's commercial area adjacent to shops and services.
"Edleun's purpose-built centres are the first of their kind in Canada and allow us to introduce much needed child care spaces in the heart of underserved communities," said Mary Ann Curran, CEO of Edleun. "This facility provides children and families with a warm and inviting environment conducive to quality early learning and care. The facility features secure single point access, indoor and outdoor fitness and recreational spaces, superior air quality, large inviting care rooms providing greater space per child than required by regulation, and ample parking. As with all Edleun centres, it is staffed by well trained, experienced caregivers and offers the Company's standardized curriculum, technology integrated classrooms, and a rotating nutritionist-certified meal plan."
As well, the Company recently announced the results of an independent assessment of quality in Edleun centres. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale - Revised report concluded that the quality of Edleun programming in its child care centres exceeded the Alberta provincial averages for all centres, including both not for profit and for profit centres.
"We knew from the outset that the McKenzie Towne location would be well received by families in the community," said Dale Kearns, President of Edleun. "Opening in October, with a staged approach to ramping up occupancy, all spaces are booked for January 1, 2013 and a robust wait list exists, which serves us well to create spillover demand for the planned Seton new development located nearby. We expect new centre developments to play an increasingly prominent role in our growth strategy going forward."
Edleun expects developments like McKenzie Towne and Chestermere to make a significant contribution to the Company's profitability and cash flow. The design, layout and scale of these modern, spacious, purpose-built facilities permit greater economies of scale over older or converted centres. In addition, as this centre was completed with the Company's available cash and credit facilities, it is anticipated to be highly accretive to the Company's near term cash flow.
About Edleun Group, Inc.
Edleun is the leading provider of high-quality, community-based Early Learning & Care child care centres in Canada offering early education and child care services to children ages six weeks to 13 years. Edleun is committed to preparing children for the next step in their education and life, offering families and employers access to and choice of quality early childhood education programs, as well as enhanced opportunities and career advancement for Early Childhood Educators.
Publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-V:EDU), the Company's objectives include the acquisition and subsequent improvement of existing child care centres and developing new state-of-the-art Early Learning and Care Centres in underserved Canadian communities.
The Company currently has a total of 47 operating centres in its portfolio and six in various stages of acquisition, development or redevelopment representing a total of approximately 5,400 licensed child care spaces.