Two weeks in a row with huge news for the District!
“I want Washingtonians to know that this growth agenda is about our future. In FY26, we’re not standing still; we’re being bold and making catalytic investments that will bring new jobs and new revenue into DC,” said Mayor Bowser. “We know that our economy is shifting, and we know the challenges we are facing. Thousands of Washingtonians have already been impacted by those challenges. This is a budget that recognizes that we can’t just sit on our hands and hope something changes – we’ve got to make change happen.”
We especially love the part about supersizing our business attraction investments and doubling our marketing capacity:
The Mayor’s FY26 budget includes $6.6M to market DC to new, prospective businesses and to generate business attraction leads and incentives. The FY26 budget also includes $5M to continue the Vitality Fund, the District’s most effective existing incentive to businesses within targeted, high-growth sectors to relocate, expand, or remain in the District.
With this inaugural fund, Synergos is seeking to build upon the $450 million in assets under management it has amassed from one-off investments. The firm has made six investments since its founding in 2019, including leading the $14 million seed round for D.C. nuclear technology startup Curio Legacy Ventures Inc. in April 2024.
General Partner Michelle Urben said Synergos, initially founded as MBLA International by New York-based brothers Yechezkel Moskowitz and Yehudah Moskowitz, relocated to D.C. five years ago in part to be closer to the companies it’s hoping to back.
… Urben said companies obtaining investment from the Synergos Fund will be highly encouraged to set up an office in the D.C. metro if the company isn’t already headquartered here. She said a majority of the Synergos Fund’s investments are expected to be made to local companies.
The District of Columbia will shatter attendance records when hosting the NFL draft in two years, Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell predicted Monday during a news conference at the White House.
Call it the million-fan three-day march.
“I believe we’ll get over a million people,” Harris said.
“We believe we’ll have well over a million people when we come here,” Goodell said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to call for a vote on a bill to fix a glitch that has created a potential $1 billion hole in the D.C. budget, though the timing is still uncertain.
Johnson told reporters Monday night that he has spoken with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and told her he would try to “do it as quickly as possible.”
“This is going to be the most important, most consequential legislation that we’ll ever be involved in, in our lifetimes,” Johnson said.
Washington, DC welcomed 25.95 million total visitors last year, up 17 percent from 2022 and surpassing the pre-pandemic record set in 2019. The new benchmark resulted in a record $10.2 billion in visitor spending and supported a record 102,366 local jobs.
“This is a major milestone for Washington, DC,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO, DDC.
Of the record 25.95 million total visitors, 24 million traveled domestically. That means domestic visitation has fully rebounded to 105 percent of 2019 figures.
