DC Inno by Samantha Sabin

Deputy Mayor Brian Kenner knows that most people outside of D.C. still think of the District as some sort of amorphous federal jurisdiction. "You've heard these stories of people presenting their D.C. license at airports and they say 'Oh, that's not real,'" Kenner said.

So he knows that in his position as deputy mayor of planning and economic development, he has to get a little innovative in how he attracts new businesses to the District.

One way he does this is by promoting inclusive innovation: how does the District make it so that starting a new business is more accessible for everybody? His office released the Pathways to Inclusion report on November 30, the first report on the state of inclusion in D.C.'s tech economy. The office is also a part of the conception for the new inclusive innovation incubator, or In3, which is officially opening in April near Howard's campus off Georgia Avenue.

"It was a twinkle in everybody's eye in 2015, and that twinkle was based on what we were seeing in 2015, which was that everyone—companies, cities—everybody was trying to figure out this inclusive innovation angle," Kenner said on the latest episode of The DC Inno Beat Podcast. "Obviously, media was saying things about Google and other places that were struggling with this idea about the representation gap in Silicon Valley, generally.

"Cities were also very much struggling with this idea."

Another way is by trying to stay ahead of the curve on smart city initiatives. Maybe you've heard of the Starship Technologies partnership with Postmates for a pilot drone food-delivery program in D.C. that's coming soon to a street near you.

"We are very excited about the opportunities around smart cities. It's almost getting to the point where now talking about smart cities is old. If you're not doing it, you're already behind," Kenner said. "The District is very much trying to stay in the movement. Being ahead has its struggles, but we're trying to be smart about that."

But what Kenner is most excited about now is the connections he makes while he's at places like SXSW—connections he makes while away from the District entirely and sitting down at a random bar in Austin, Texas. No doubt, the D.C. government makes a big deal about going to SXSW. They bring a whole cohort, have media sponsors for kickoff events in D.C., bring local musicians and makers, and so on.

This year's lineup of D.C. "ambassadors," of sorts, have not been announced yet, but it's really about trying to spread the word about what D.C. has to offer, Kenner said.

It's about telling people what we are, it's about getting them interested, and then it's, honestly, about closing them.

 

"It's about telling people what we are, it's about getting them interested, and then it's, honestly, about closing them," Kenner said about SXSW. "It's taking those contacts and trying to convert them into people who want to come here."

Kenner said that he tries to stress the experience of being in D.C. as an asset for prospective founders and entrepreneurs. And he has a theory: where a company is headquartered depends mostly on where the company's CEO is based.

"Five years ago, in my job, the person in my job would've told you retention was about keeping federal job tenants here," Kenner said. "While that is still my tact and still my charge, I put a lot more energy and prioritization into attracting big companies here in the District of Columbia because that's where my future job growth is going to be coming from."

Often, Kenner finds himself pitching an experience to potential new businesses. He recognizes that D.C. is an expensive place to start a business, which deters a lot of large companies, so he needs

"Companies are behaving like retailers. Retailers today are obsessed with an experience; Apple is a great example of this. They're no longer in the business of doing stores like they do in Georgetown right now. What they want to do is create these experiential places," Kenner said. "Everybody wants an experience when they come to that space.

"Companies are interested in experiences for their employees. They're not so much wed to the central business space, they're not so much wed to the traditional space. They want interesting. I didn't hear that a few years ago."

On the horizon in D.C.'s innovation, Kenner has a lot of plans, which could possibly include self-driving cars in D.C.?

"There is already testing environments created in the District of Columbia for that," Kenner said. "You'd be surprised in the testing environment by how many there already have been and you just didn't know it."

"It's the future, but it also engenders a lot of other questions with it."

On the latest episode of The Beat podcast, DC Inno's weekly interview podcast, Kenner spoke more about how the District works to attract new businesses to the area.

https://soundcloud.com/dc-inno/sxsw-to-dc-how-deputy-mayor-brian-kenner-will-get-more-startups-to-dc

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