Facebook Sets Dates For Des Moines 'Community Boost' Training

DES MOINES, IA — A Facebook training program announced by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in November will take place in Des Moines from June 4-8, the company announced today. Facebook Community Boost is designed to help U.S. small businesses grow and to equip more people with the digital skills they need to compete in the new economy.

But new research from Facebook, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Morning Consult, a leading public opinion and market research firm, indicates that while most managers and job candidates appreciate the importance of those skills, they don't possess them.

Facebook wants to change that, and Des Moines is among the first five stops for the training tour.

"I've visited a lot of communities this year and one theme I've found is that strong small businesses create strong communities," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook in November. "That's because small businesses create jobs, provide services, and bring people together. A lot of small business owners end up being leaders in their communities too."

Zuckerberg committed to bringing Facebook Community Boost to 30 U.S. cities this year. Facebook has already trained more than 60,000 businesses in the United States and hundreds of thousands more overseas through an initiative called Boost Your Business. In that program, daylong training events educate small business owners how to use tools like Business Pages, Messenger and Instagram to manage their digital presence, highlight best practices for online advertising, and even teach creative storytelling techniques.

Community Boost promises something similar, but tailored to local needs and on a larger scale.

"Community Boost is part of a billion-dollar investment to help small businesses grow, sell and hire, and also to help job seekers find gainful employment," said Facebook Public Policy Research Manager Laura McGorman. "We've done quite a bit of research over the last year — Facebook cares a great deal about small businesses, and we want to understand at a national, state and city level what their needs are and how we can help."

>>Earlier: Des Moines Chosen As Launch City For Facebook 'Community Boost' Program

McGorman said Facebook is using Morning Consult's research to make sure its new initiative has a real impact. The research found that in Des Moines, there are "huge gaps in the digital skills that managers see as critical to growing their business and whether or not they see themselves as proficient in these skills."

Facebook said the majority of managers in Des Moines said that creating a mobile-friendly interface was important to growing their business, but very few rated themselves highly in that area. The research also found that Des Moines businesses understand the importance of having a social media presence when it comes to growth, with 65 percent saying that creating a social media presence is very important for business growth.

In addition, 77 percent of Des Moines managers and 93 percent of job and skill seekers recognize there is enormous demand for improving digital skills and they are interested in doing so.

Facebook said Des Moines organizations will help bring the Community Boost program to the city in several ways:

• For job seekers, it will provide training to help improve their digital and social media skills.
• For people getting online for the first time or wanting to support their community, the Facebook program will provide training on digital literacy and online safety. "And we’ll also help community members use technology to bring people together, with features like Events and Groups," the company said.
• For business owners, the program will "offer ways they can expand their digital footprint and find new customers around the corner and around the globe."

Facebook said it hopes to address topics like online privacy and digital banking, social media presence, digital marketing and other skills.

Other cities and dates announced today include:

• St. Louis, Mo. - March 26 to 30
• Houston, Texas - April 3 to 6
• Albuquerque, N.M. - April 30 to May 4
• Greenville, S.C. - May 29 to June 1

For more information about participating in Facebook Community Boost or to share your own small business story with Facebook, visit facebook.com/tellcommunityboost.

Patch's J. Ryne Danielson contributed to this story. Photo: The Facebook app logo is displayed on an iPad next to a picture of the Facebook logo on an iPhone on August 3, 2016, in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty News/Getty Images)