Get ready, Omaha — Facebook is here to give your community a boost. We’re bringing together local leaders, social media gurus and top Facebook experts for an exciting program designed to turbocharge your small business or nonprofit. It’s all happening at Thompson Center At UNO (6705 Dodge Street) and it’s open to the public for free.

Nebraska is home to more than 170,000 small businesses, making up more than 99% of companies in the Cornhusker State. The mix of local colleges, a strong economy and a reputation for great quality of life make Omaha an incredibly attractive place to start a business and raise a family. Facebook has already invested more than $1 billion in this community with our Papillion data center, a 2.6-million square feet, 100% clean energy project. This past March we announced an expansion to be completed between 2020 and 2023.

Attracting and retaining top talent is perhaps the greatest challenge facing small businesses in Omaha right now. With unemployment below 3%, qualified candidates can afford to be picky. Companies need to work even harder and smarter to compete.

• When we spoke to the Nebraska small business community about the most important factors when hiring employees, more than 6 in 10 (62%) said an individual’s digital skills were important.
• More than 3 in 10 (33%) said that Facebook has helped them hire additional employees.

The Facebook Community Boost curriculum is designed to help. We have classes and one-on-one training sessions available for business owners, nonprofit leaders and job seekers. You’ll learn everything from getting started on Instagram, to optimizing your content for mobile. On Thursday, we’ll host a “mini” Community Boost at Kaneko (1111 Jones Street).

We hope to see you at one or all of these exciting free events. Register or stay up to date with the latest city announcements, news and program schedules at fbcommunityboost.com.