What a thrill to kick off the Facebook Community Boost in Edison, New Jersey this morning. This is our 40th Community Boost this year in the US, with more happening around the world. These events bring together local businesses, community leaders, politicians and others to learn more about the tools Facebook offers — many of them free — to build community, and to launch and grow a business. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are responsible for 60% of the job creation and are key economic engines in their community. New Jersey alone has 844,000 SMBs.

I was joined onstage by Monique and Chevalo Wilsondebriano of the Charleston Gourmet Burger Company, and Bryan and Bradley Manning from Two Blind Brothers. These impressive entrepreneurs have built their businesses through vision, grit, and relentless focus on their customers. They offered their unique perspectives and advice to other business owners on how to launch and scale their own ventures, and how to best use the tools available on Facebook and Instagram.

We were also joined by State Senator Patrick Diegnan and Joe Kelley, Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Growth for Governor Murphy.

And we also had Facebook’s own Erica Bryndza, a New Jersey native who grew up and went to college close by, welcome the crowd of more than 400 local attendees. Looking forward to more Community Boosts to come, as Facebook fulfills our pledge to reach over one million entrepreneurs and local leaders through these events by 2020.