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Poland library, Business and Investment Center, host annual Ladies Day
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Business librarian of the Public library of Youngstown and Mahoning County Stuart Gibbs spoke about the ways people can utilize the Business and Investment Center's resources.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Kathy Mock (left) and Laura Weymer spoke about community support during the Ladies Day event at the Poland library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.One of the speakers during the Ladies Day event at the Poland library was Lisa Dickson. Dickson is the chief administrative and financial officer for D&D Companies. She spoke about women in the Valley.
By TIM CLEVELAND
For the third consecutive year, the library hosted its annual Ladies Day event, giving area female business owners a chance to give presentations on business in conjunction with the library’s Business and Investment Center. The event was Oct. 18 at the Poland library.
“This is Ladies Day with the Business and Investment Center,” Main library business librarian Stuart Gibbs said. “This is the third anniversary that we celebrate and women tell other women what they’re doing in the Valley and how they’re doing it through their accomplishments in business.”
The 2 1/2 hour event had five speakers who each gave a 30-minute presentation. The speakers were Gibbs; Laura Weymer, the membership coordinator for the YMCA of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley’s community impact associate; speaking with Weymer was Kathy Mock, an instructor of teacher education at Youngstown State University and director of education and initiatives at the United Way, who spoke about community support; Mario Nero, the senior loan officer with the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation, who spoke about business financing; Lisa Dickson, chief administrative and financial officer for D&D Companies, who spoke about women in the Valley and Bergen Giordani, the owner of One Hot Cookie, with locations in downtown Youngstown and in the Austintown library, who spoke about starting your own business.
“I’m going to be talking about how people can utilize the Business and Investment Center’s resources, whether it be our periodicals, such as Advertising Age or Music Trades Magazine or SRDS or Dun and Bradstreet, for business information that they might need for their specific business,” Gibbs said.
Dickson said she’s very optimistic about female entrepreneurs in the Valley.
“I see new women-owned businesses opening up all the time; lots of women thriving, expanding, growing support in the community,” she said. “At YBPW (Youngstown Business & Professional Women), our membership is growing. It’s become a very diverse group of experienced women from all different backgrounds and industries.”
Gibbs said anyone who attended the presentation would get good ideas on how to either start a business or improve upon an existing business.
“For a person coming, they would see how they could possibly either make their idea into a reality by what a woman is doing in business, or expand what they have, come up with an innovative concept,” he said.