DMPED's Closer: February Edition

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CLoser

February Edition 2018


Washington, DC Repeatedly Ranks as Nation's Best City for Women in Tech

The District of Columbia has been announced as the best city in the country for women in tech for the fourth consecutive year. During the Bowser Administration, Washington, DC has become a leading and desirable location for technology companies.

"The data shows Washington, D.C. continues to be a great place for women in tech to work and live, relative to the 58 large cities we looked at. The city claims the top spot in our study for the fourth consecutive year. What sets D.C. apart is the strong representation of women in the local tech workforce. Across the 58 cities we analyzed, women make up about 25.9% of the tech workforce, but in D.C. women make up 38.5% of the tech workforce. That is the highest percentage of local tech jobs filled by women in our analysis." said AJ Smith, VP of Financial Education at SmartAsset.

Women

Mission: West Coast

Yelp

Earlier this month, Mayor Muriel Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner traveled to Silicon Valley to pitch Washington, DC as an ideal location for tech companies, promote the District as the capital of inclusive innovation, and visit potential job creators.

“This is a first-of-its-kind trip for the city in which we target the West Coast as an opportunity to attract businesses and capital that will help us spread prosperity across the District,” said Mayor Bowser. “As we work to create more pathways to the middle class for Washingtonians, we are focused on bringing in companies that are looking for the type of talent and entrepreneurial spirit that exists in Washington, DC.”

Deputy Mayor Kenner began engagement in California on Wednesday, February 7, and the mission included meetings with tech giants Lyft, Netflix, Cisco, and Yelp. The team also met with Oakland-based Kapor Center for Social Impact to discuss making the technology ecosystem and entrepreneurship more diverse and inclusive, and the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford University to discuss the District’s work related to autonomous vehicles and mobility.

Additionally, the team used the trip as an opportunity to seek ideas for the Bowser Administration’s recently announced Request for Information (RFI) for an Inclusive Innovation Fund. The new program aims to increase access to capital for District entrepreneurs, particularly for underrepresented entrepreneurs, such as people of color and women.

Apple

More on the Inclusive Innovation Fund Front

“Access to capital is critical to starting and growing businesses in the District, and underrepresented entrepreneurs – including people of color, women, and LGBTQ residents – often face particularly high barriers during the early stages. Our goal with this fund is to break down some of those barriers and get more residents on pathways to the middle class,” said Mayor Bowser.

IIF

The Bowser Administration seeks to break down some of these barriers by working with private sector partners to create a locally-based investment fund that supports DC entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on underrepresented entrepreneurs. As outlined in the RFI, the District is willing to provide risk capital to enable an investment professional partner that shares the Administration’s vision for inclusive innovation to build out a program that makes a lasting and substantial improvement to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The investment fund, which will be led by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, will be focused on early stage ventures.

To view the RFI, go to dmped.dc.gov. The deadline to submit a response is March 6, 2018.


Mayor Bowser Establishes Autonomous Vehicle Working Group

AV Working Group

Mayor Bowser and Deputy Mayor Kenner announced new efforts to explore an autonomous vehicle (AV) program by establishing the Interagency AV Working Group to proactively prepare the District for AV technologies and ensure that AV deployment will benefit District residents and visitors. The working group is comprised of District agencies focused on transportation, disability rights, environmental issues, and public safety. Additionally, the Bowser Administration is partnering with the Southwest Business Improvement District (SWBID) to release a Request for Information (RFI) for a AV pilot program on 10th Street, SW.

“Washington’s Southwest Waterfront is in the midst of a renaissance,” said Steve Moore, executive director of SWBID. “The 10th Street SW corridor is currently the fastest way to get from the National Mall – which attracts 20 million annual visitors – to the District’s newest, world-class waterfront destination. Our hope is that AVs will enhance this conduit, act as catalyst for innovative mobility solutions across the District, and ultimately create an interconnected, sustainable community. This RFI is just the first step in what we hope will ultimately become a successful – and historic – pilot project.”

The SWBID RFI hopes to result in a “first-mile, last-mile” autonomous vehicle pilot program along 10th Street, SW, adjacent to L’Enfant Plaza. The street, which connects the National Mall via Independence Avenue and Banneker Park to The Wharf, sits above I-395, and, with a manageable daily vehicle volume of approximately 4,300 cars per day, is an ideal candidate for an AV pilot zone.


Economic Intelligence Roundtable: Grocery Access in the District

Some DC Neighborhoods are in short supply of grocery stores or other sources of healthy and affordable food. This Economic Intelligence Roundtable, brought to you by DC's Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) in partnership with the DC Chamber of Commerce, brought together researchers, retailers, and policy makers that explored what data tells us about the availability of food in developing corridors and incentives to make nutritious food more readily available. The main question was: "Can targeting economic development to specific economic, geographic, and demographic factors close the grocery gap?"

“For many families in the District it’s not that they don't know or don't want to do the right thing when it comes to making healthy food choices, but they just have to have access to affordable healthy food options and as a city we must get creative and find ways to provide that access,” said Tiffini Greene, Executive Vice President, American Management Corporation.

Since our first Economic Intelligence Roundtable in spring 2015, we have been providing avenues of data-driven and technology-driven contact for economic development policy and decision-making across several sectors.

If you missed it, check out the Facebook Live here!

Roundtable

Engine Company 22 Ribbon Cutting

Engine 22

The ribbon is cut! Engine Company 22 is the third new fire station built during the Bowser Administration, and the second building to open at the redevelopment of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The station is the new home of Engine 22, Truck 11, and Ambulance 22.

The new $13.1 million Engine Company 22 features:

  • underground parking facilities for personnel;
  • a vegetated green roof;
  • a community room for neighborhood use;
  • four large apparatus bays;
  • sleeping and living quarters, a spacious sitting area, fitness areas, and a full service kitchen; and
  • administrative, training, and apparatus bay support and vehicle maintenance areas.  

Dr. Willie Hasson, Ward 4 resident, says, "With the burgeoning population shift and increased construction at Walter Reed in the upper Georgia Avenue community the citizens can feel secure that their City Government is responding to and meeting their needs for the next century.”

Additionally, Engine 22 includes a more intuitive floor plan that will improve internal response times by making it easier for personnel to reach an apparatus to depart for emergencies. The facility is also eco-friendly and energy efficient and designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification.

Engine 22

Affordable Housing Spotlight: Beacon Center "Topping Off" Celebration

Mayor Bowser participated in the topping off celebration for the Beacon Center, a mixed-use building that includes 99 affordable housing units, which was a collaborative effort between private entities and city agencies in the historic Emory United Methodist Church and will offer community benefits in Ward 4 along the Georgia Avenue corridor. The project took the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) over the $100 million mark for the first time - up to $106 million in FY 2016. Overall the HPTF has over $276 million in investments since Mayor Bowser took office in 2015.

The Beacon Center will provide spaces and places to transition people from homelessness to permanent residency. It will provide families, veterans and senior citizens with affordable rental housing. It will be a resource for the community through its multi-purpose space, full-service banquet facility, office leasing space, services and commercial development. All of this will be created around a newly renovated 500-seat multipurpose sanctuary and community theatre with underground parking.

#InclusiveProsperity #DCvalues

Beacon