The first five years of life are a period of profound growth and change as children begin to speak, think, reason, and feel. Brain research has found that both children's experiences and their relationships with others influence this early development in important and lasting ways. For local governments, the first five years represent a critical opportunity to support, promote, and enrich the health and development of very young children. These efforts have lasting consequences not just for children, but for their communities as well. Investment in early childhood pays dividends to local governments across time, and across systems as disparate as education, health care, and law enforcement. This paper examines the key areas in which local officials can have a measurable impact on growth and learning from birth to five.