WASHINGTON — While the D.C. area awaits news from Amazon about its big second headquarters, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser leads a city economic planning team on a trip to Silicon Valley to pitch D.C. to other technology companies.
Bowser, and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner, travel to California Feb. 9 through Feb. 12.
Meetings are scheduled with companies including Lyft, Cisco and Yelp. Yelp has already announced plans for a new office in D.C. that will create 500 jobs over a five-year period.
The delegation will also pitch the District’s work related to autonomous vehicles, with a meeting with the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford University.
Bowser will use the trip to brainstorm for ideas for the administration’s recently announced Request for Information for an Inclusive Innovation Fund, a program that aims to increase access to capital for D.C. entrepreneurs, particularly underrepresented entrepreneurs, including minorities and women.
“Washington continues to rank No. 1 as a place for entrepreneurs who are women or people of color to thrive, but there are barriers that still need to break down, including access to capital,” said Kenner in a statement.
Amazon, which will choose its location for its second headquarters later this year, has included both D.C. and Northern Virginia on its short list of 20 finalists.
