When Richard Brian started Liberty Furniture in 1992, his vision was a company that would thrive on the values of hard work, fairness and integrity. What began as seven people in a small section of a warehouse in west Atlanta is now widely recognized as one of the premiere leaders in manufacturing and delivering quality furniture at exceptional value. Despite its success, Liberty Furniture has remained a strong, family-oriented business that has never compromised its standards of dedicated customer service, relentless pursuit of quality, and devotion to enriching the lives of their employees, their customers, and the community.
Liberty CEO, Jason Brian signing $1 million check with children Allie and Jack looking on.
As 2018 came to a close, Liberty formalized that commitment to the community and established the Liberty Furniture Charity Fund with Cobb Community Foundation. “Supporting the communities that have supported us and our employees is something that we have done since day one,” says Jason Brian, president and CEO of Liberty Furniture Industries. “We want to be sure that we’re investing our charitable dollars where they can really make a difference, and Cobb Community Foundation can help us do that.”
Like the other twelve independent community foundations in Georgia, Cobb Community Foundation (“CCF”) is a grant-making public charity that provides a way for individuals, families, businesses and organizations to pool their resources into various community funds to help address community needs. What appealed most to Brian, however, was how CCF could also help Liberty create its own charitable fund.
“We thought we would have to create a foundation, but Mike (Mike Pompilio of Moore Colson and CPA for Liberty) told us there was an easier, more cost-effective way for us to set aside what we can to ultimately give to causes that are important to our owners, our employees, even our customers.” Brian continues, “I’ve learned in this process that there are a number of organizations who can do this for us, but we really like that Cobb Community Foundation is local. They are experts on the needs in Cobb and surrounding areas, where most of our employees live, and know the non-profits meeting those needs. They are also focused on working with us to identify organizations outside of Cobb, even international organizations, that we would be interested in supporting.”
Shari Martin, executive director of CCF, couldn’t be more excited to be working with Liberty. “Giving back is in this company’s DNA,” she says. “With their charitable fund, they will be able to be much more strategic and even more purposeful in their giving than they’ve been in the past.”
“Shari is really going to help us take our giving to the next level,” Brian explains. “We can’t wait to get started.”
Want to establish your own charitable fund? Reach out to Cobb Community Foundation at 770-859-2366 or via email at CCFTeam@CobbFoundation.org.
Picture at top of page: Liberty Furniture executives and family members present $1 million check to Cobb Community Foundation. From left to right: Jack Brian, Heather Brian, Allie Brian and Jason Brian (President and CEO), Jonathan Cowles (Executive Vice President), Tamara Evans (Vice President), Jason Wagy (Vice President) and Elvir Tepic (Vice President) of Liberty Furniture and Shari Martin, Executive Director of Cobb Community Foundation
