Toyota West Virginia announced, on Aug. 12, 2025, that it is building a child care center (shown in this rendering) at its plant in Buffalo, Putnam County. The facility is expected to open by 2027 and will care for up to 240 children over two shifts.
Toyota West Virginia announced, on Aug. 12, 2025, that it is building a child care center (shown in this rendering) at its plant in Buffalo, Putnam County. The facility is expected to open by 2027 and will care for up to 240 children over two shifts.
Courtesy image
BUFFALO — Workers at the Toyota West Virginia engine and transmission plant in Putnam County may have fewer worries in 2027 when it comes to child care.
Toyota announced Aug. 12 that it will add child care centers at four locations:
Toyota North Carolina
Toyota Mississippi
Toyota Alabama
Toyota West Virginia
“We do hear from people sometimes that they just can't keep working because they don't have anybody to take care of their kids, or they can't come and start at a certain time or they need a certain shift because they can't get child care," said Myriah Sweeney, who works in management at Toyota. "So we do expect this will help with retention and recruiting.â€
Her team oversees all corporate shared services including dining, child care and uniform management.
“There's been a demand for all of our sites for child care. I think part of the issue is because we work such unique shifts. Having time overnight and having to go early in the morning before most traditional child care centers open really causes some issues for folks, and so there's been a demand for this one,†Sweeney said.
Toyota says each of the new child care centers is being developed in collaboration with third-party, high-quality child care providers and will align with plant production schedules, helping to ensure that team members can balance work and family responsibilities. The Buffalo location will use Massachusetts-based Bright Horizons as its third-party provider.
At the Buffalo location, which employs near 2,100, Sweeney said 20% of Toyota team members have children, and around 10% have kids who are 12 and under. It’s unclear how many people will use the childcare center, she said.
Toyota already owns the property the child care center will need, but the building will be new and open by 2027. It will have the capacity for up to 240 children over two shifts. Any time the plant is producing units, which includes Saturdays occasionally, the child care center will be open.
Sweeney said Toyota will help cover some of the operational costs, but team members will pay for the service, either by payroll deduction or another method.
“We make it competitive with other centers that are in the local market,†she said. “We haven't decided on the rates yet for West Virginia, but we'll be looking at other centers in the area and making sure that we're competitive with those.â€
Children who attend the center will receive two meals per shift at no extra cost, or they can bring their own food. Sweeney says that food will likely come from the meal provider who already operates at the plants. For Buffalo, that’s Aramark.
There is a nap schedule built into the day. There are cots and Murphy beds for school-age children.
Sweeney said that the plan for the center is to serve children from 6 weeks to kindergarten age, but they are also assessing the need for child care in the area overall to possibly adjust.
There also could be a separate child care program in the summer when need increases, and it's also possible the center will work with local schools for transportation between school and the center.
All children who attend the center must be the legal dependents of a Toyota team member.
According to information from Toyota, all centers will introduce an age-based curriculum for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, promoting learning through motor development, as well as physical, cognitive and social-emotional growth. They will be equipped with a commercial kitchen, STEM room, movement matters space (like an indoor playground) and an outdoor playground.
