Don Morrissey: Eliza Leadbeater is ready to serve as county commissioner

To The Daily Sun,

I was delighted to see that my good friend, Eliza Leadbeater, has filed to run for Belknap County Commissioner District 3. I can think of no person more qualified than her. As our first executive director of the Belknap County Economic Development Council, Eliza proved time and again how astute she was in managing a large organization with countywide (and beyond) impact.

She prepared annual budgets, made tough decisions and contributed immensely to pulling the county economy out of the economic doldrums of the early 1990s. She worked with the then county commissioners and county delegation members to further the economic interests of Belknap County. Her knowledge of budgeting, defending budgets, compromise across the political spectrum and county operations served her well and will do so again as one of our commissioners.

Her 15 years' longevity as economic development director say reams about her abilities, experience, determination and dedication to improving the quality of life for every Belknap County resident. Take a look at her record; it is very impressive in the numbers of businesses, large and small, that she helped grow and expand. The BCEDC, headed by Eliza, due to its successes became the model for nine other similar groups in New Hampshire. Her initiative and talents led to the creation of the first nonprofit Revolving Loan Fund in the state with over $6 million in loans to established businesses as well as start-ups. She was instrumental in researching and applying for some $10 million in state, federal and corporate grants which directly benefited the BCEDC and other nonprofit agencies.

Almost 30 years ago, Belknap County needed a skilled, creative, talented economic development director. We found her and hired her. Let’s “hire” her again as county commissioner with our votes Sept. 13 and Nov 8.

Don Morrissey

Gilford