SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Janie Barrera is founding president and chief executive officer of LiftFund, formerly Accion Texas Inc. Created in 1994, LiftFund has grown to be one of the nation’s largest micro and small business lender. 

The nonprofit agency provides small loans and management training to microenterprises of all kinds — from startups to long-established businesses — and operates in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

On Wednesday, Barrera participated in a webinar hosted by Connect Humanity. The title of the webinar was “Texas Border - Small Business Broadband Fund; Virtual Roundtable.”

The webinar was held to provide more information about Connect Humanity’s plans to build a $10 million fund to help finance the digitalization of small businesses in the Texas border region.

The webinar was hosted by Jordana Barton-Garcia, a senior fellow at Connect Humanity. The webinar included entrepreneurs and local leaders that discussed the importance of investments in digital infrastructure, broadband affordability, and skills — and how this can act as a catalyst to help build the foundation for a vibrant South Texas economy.

In her remarks, Barrera spoke about the challenges small businesses faced during the COVID pandemic. Small businesses that did not have a website were at a disadvantage, she explained. 

“I’m glad to be part of this conversation. I encourage more investments and funds like this,” Barrera said. 

She said there is accountability and evaluation in the project Connect Humanity is embarking on.

“It's not well, ‘I think we're going to do this.’ We know what the goal is. We're going to have a baseline. We move forward and (we will) be able to show, hopefully, dramatic findings in years two, three and four,” Barrera said.

“So, it's short term, I believe, because the urgency is here. If we don't do something right now, we are going to miss an opportunity. So thank you Jordana for bringing me into the conversation.”

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