DeKALB – Facebook is contributing $10,000 to the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce for the Small Business Member Assistance Fund, according to a Dec. 17 DeKalb Chamber of Commerce news release.

The Small Business Member Assistance Fund can be used for a number of expenses such as membership dues, promotional advertisements, sponsorships or program and event registrations. 

These funds can be requested by completing a form on the DeKalb Chamber’s website, and are reviewed on a weekly basis as long as funds are available.

“The DeKalb Chamber has been focused on the importance of local small businesses since we started 96 years ago, but the impact of the pandemic and additional challenges faced by businesses are greater than ever in our lifetime,” said Matt Duffy, executive director for DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. 

Facebook is heavily involved in the DeKalb community due to its data center being built here, according to a June 30 Northern Star article.

“Facebook understands the importance of small businesses and wanted to show support for the DeKalb Community even before the Facebook DeKalb Data Center is completed and open,” Duffy said.

The 907,000 square-foot data center coming to DeKalb is set to bring about 100 operational jobs and hundreds of construction jobs to the area, according to the Northern Star article.

“Since breaking ground on our DeKalb Data Center in June, we’ve been so fortunate to call DeKalb County home,” said Matt Sexton, community development regional manager for Facebook. “We are excited to end 2020 by supporting local small businesses and the great work of our local partners. We look forward to building and expanding our partnerships in DeKalb County for many years to come.”