D.C. Council members Jack Evans and Muriel Bowser, as well as former University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, came to unveil the map, which local leaders hope will drive customers to the stores and restaurants it highlights.
Kris Hart, an alumnus and president of the Washington Circle Business Association, said tourists often overlook small businesses in the area because they are out-shined by major landmarks like the White House, the State Department and the University.
Evans, a long-serving Council member whose constituency includes Foggy Bottom, lauded the project for its potential to help small businesses succeed. He said these stores have brought jobs to the neighborhood and stimulated the local economy.
“As we work to create jobs for many of the people who don’t have jobs in our city, small business is going to be a key operator in making that happen,” Evans said. “Just a simple map like this to show what exists in Foggy Bottom is so important in promoting that.”
Evans also thanked Trachtenberg for expanding jobs in the area as he “took a sleepy university and made it into a world class university.”
Trachtenberg said he specifically recruited the District’s unemployed to work at GW during his tenure, which spanned from 1988 to 2007. He said he would often go to churches across the city and hand out his business card to people looking for jobs.
Bowser, who won the Democratic nomination for mayor earlier this month, said the community needs to make sure that its investments and wealth “get around to everybody.”
“It indeed is very vibrant,” Bowser said. “But we are really focused on our future. And to focus on our future, we have to reach out to the big guys and the little guys and everybody in between to make sure that the prosperity in Washington is shared.”
