Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has unveiled Facebook Community Boost — a new program that seeks to help U.S. small businesses grow by enhancing their digital skills.
Facebook Community Boost Program
In a Facebook Newsroom post, Facebook’s VP of Small Business Dan Levy said the Facebook Community Boost program will visit 30 cities in 2018 and among them will be St. Louis, Albuquerque, Houston, Des Moines and Greenville, South Carolina. He further added that they will work with local organizations in the selected areas to provide digital skills training to help local businesses and entrepreneurs get the most out of the internet.
“If you’re an entrepreneur, we’ll have training programs on how to use technology to turn an idea into a business or show you ways to create a free online presence using Facebook,” Levy said. “If you’re a business owner we’re going to offer ways your business can expand its digital footprint and find new customers around the corner and around the globe.”
The social media giant says it has, since 2011, been quietly supporting small businesses around the globe to the tune of $1 billion. The company says it has also trained more than 60,000 businesses in the U.S. alone and thousands more around the globe.
For many business owners, the importance of using Facebook in the growth of their businesses isn’t a new realization. A survey conducted by Morning Consult and co-sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Facebook shows that one in three U.S. small and medium-sized businesses with a Facebook presence said that they “built their business” on the site, while 42 percent said they hired more people due to growth via Facebook.
It is likely that the Facebook Community Boost trainings will mostly focus on helping small businesses realize their goals using Facebook, but Levy also promised that the trainings will be beneficial to people who are getting online for the first time as well as those seeking skills on basic digital literacy and online safety.
Image: Facebook