Facebook, the National Federation of Independent Business Owners (NFIB) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently announced a nationwide joint initiative to help small businesses acquire and retain customers.  By combining their resources, these three organizations hope to educate, inform and support small business entrepreneurs in their efforts to use social media to grow and thrive in a challenging economy.

Thanks to this new partnership, a host of educational resources will be developed and made available to small business owners.  In addition, a cross-country line-up of events will be held to inform entrepreneurs about how they can get results by connecting their home-based or other small businesses with more prospective customers via Facebook.

And that’s not all.  Facebook will actually be putting its money where its mouth is beginning in January 2012 when it will be awarding small businesses a combined total of up to $10 million worth of FREE Facebook advertisements to give them a leg up.

According to a recent NFIB statement announcing the effort, small businesses employ over half of private sector workers, generating well over 60% of new jobs since the early 90s.  As such, they are a very important and integral part of the American economy―a dynamic that social media outlets like Facebook are facilitating more and more with each passing year.  Given that today over half of Facebook’s 800 million active users make connections with small businesses via the site, it’s quickly becoming a marketing platform that more small business entrepreneurs need to know more about.  This new collaborative effort is aimed at doing just that.

“Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy and we believe that Facebook can be a tremendous tool to fuel their growth and success,” said Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer.  “Our goal is to give small businesses a boost by helping them find customers the best way possible―through recommendations from friends.  We’re proud to be working with the NFIB and U.S. Chamber of Commerce in this effort.”

For more information about educational resources developed for this collaborative initiative, the upcoming dates, times and locations for cross-country events or how to obtain ad credit for your small business, visit www.facebook.com/smallbusinessboost today.