(Washington, DC) The Council of the District of Columbia passed a unanimous vote Tuesday to confirm Erik A. Moses as Director of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development. Mr. Moses has served most recently as acting director and previously as interim director since his mayoral appointment in January.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty praised the Council action, adding that the vote will allow his Administration to make good on the promise to engineer business opportunity and growth throughout the District of Columbia. Mayor Fenty tagged Mr. Moses to reconfigure his small business department to provide programs and services to a wider audience.

“I am confident that we have a committed leader at the helm,” Mayor Fenty said. “Erik will provide direction to the Department and work diligently to help build the ‘City of Opportunity’ we promised.”

Mr. Moses set the pace in January as champion of the District’s small business community, launching a series of initiatives including streamlining agency operations, increasing agency capacity and instituting program expansions.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the District of Columbia, its residents and businesses,” said Mr. Moses, following his confirmation. “I especially look forward to advocating on behalf of local entrepreneurs. They dare to dream. By sheer tenacity, these men and women have played a major role in the renaissance we are experiencing today. We want to keep that momentum going.”

Councilmember Kwame R. Brown, Chairman of the Council Committee on Economic Development, presented the resolution to the Council, noting Mr. Moses' confirmation as a key initiative in the reconstruction of the Department of Small and Local Business Development. "The small business community requires an advocate to navigate opportunities exploding throughout the District's economic renaissance," Mr. Brown said. "With the support of the community, we are confident that Erik is the person for the job."

Mr. Moses began his tenure with the District government in March 2006 as the Deputy Director of the Department of Small and Local Business Development. In that role, he established the newly created Office of Business Opportunities and Access to Capital.

Mr. Moses is an attorney who began his career in private practice with the Washington, DC, law firm of Dow Lohnes PLLC and later joined the America Online division of Time Warner where he served as a director of business development. He holds a BA in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from the Duke University School of Law. He and his wife, Mioshi James Moses, live in Washington with their two children.