County Commissioner to speak in front of U.N. Monday

County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman will take on an important task when she visits New York to speak at the fourth annual Power of Collaboration Global Summit at UN headquarters Monday.

Lieberman was asked to speak at the United Nations because of her work to empower small businesses— especially those run by women, through the micro-enterprise grant program.

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The program provides boosts to small businesses, allowing them to purchase things like more equipment and supplies.

“These are things they couldn’t afford otherwise,” said Lieberman. “It’s a small business, right?”

The program has awarded 16 grants to small businesses, 13 of them owned by women in it’s first year. Lieberman hopes to expand the micro-enterprise program after the program’s initial success.

Juanita Durden-Jones, the owner of Third Perk Coffeehouse, received a grant from the program which helped her open a new location near Good Samaritan Hospital.

“The grant was truly phenomenal,” said Durden-Jones. “It came right on time.”

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This isn’t Lieberman’s first experience with dealing with representing Montgomery County on a larger scale. In 2016, she was elected to serve on the National Association of Counties Board of Directors.

When she speaks Monday, she hopes that telling Dayton and Montgomery County’s success story may inspire more opportunities for women worldwide, and be spark interest of new business in our region.

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