While many people were getting ready to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, some top D.C. officials and business executives were bound for a particularly long trip: to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
A group of nine business and government leaders from the District joined a delegation of 13 others from around the country to visit the UAE capital Nov. 20-23, a trip organized — and paid for — by Access Abu Dhabi. That entity, which aims to help businesses, especially those led by women or people of color, expand to Abu Dhabi, is backed by that city's investment office and managed by Sarah Omolewu, head of Maven Marketing and Events.
Omolewu, who helped recruit the D.C. officials and executives to join the trip, is also a top contact for celebrities looking to travel or do business in the UAE. Accordingly, the trip was a star-studded affair. Businessman Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame led the delegation, while actor Hill Harper, former NBA player Metta Sandiford-Artest (formerly Ron Artest) and former soccer star Patrice Evra also participated, giving D.C. leaders an unusual bit of access to stars with money to invest, as well as executives from all over the globe.
“A lot of people think of UAE and think of Dubai, which is more like Miami or Las Vegas, but Abu Dhabi is a lot more like D.C.,” said John Falcicchio, the District’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development. Falcicchio joined Andres Hayes — who manages DMPED's international business dealings — in representing the city on the trip. “We got a chance to experience how they’re creating their own tech ecosystem, and we can learn a lot from that.”
Falcicchio and Hayes were joined by familiar names in D.C. business circles, including Angela Franco, head of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, and Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce CEO Nicole Quiroga. Patrice Brickman, founder of venture firm Inspire Capital, lobbyist Ashley Davis of West Front Strategies and Kate Goodall, CEO of the business incubator and investment firm Halycon, also attended. Wanda Durant, mother of the NBA star Kevin Durant and an inspirational speaker, and Dr. Melita Moore, a sports medicine specialist and esports entrepreneur, rounded out the group.
“It was really refreshing and inspirational to be there after 18 months of lockdown,” Goodall said. “It was just a great mixture of celebrities, politicians, athletes and people like myself, all with a shared sense of groundedness and purpose. It was great to be around such like-minded people.”
It might raise some eyebrows that D.C. officials would participate in such a trip during the pandemic, especially to a country where many employers are facing questions about their treatment of migrant workers. While Falcicchio didn't address that record directly, he added that the District could benefit from learning more about the UAE capital, which is a tech hub in its own right.
For instance, he met with the head of Abu Dhabi’s investment office, essentially his counterpart, to discuss the city’s “financial sandbox,” where they allow companies to test new products or services in concert with regulators to see what might be possible. As it happens, Mayor Muriel Bowser introduced legislation earlier this year to set up a similar program in D.C. — though it has yet to advance to a hearing.
Similarly, the group got to tour Hub71, an incubator of sorts where tech startups are invited to take up residence in the city and work with other like-minded entrepreneurs. Falcicchio compares it to the “innovation district” the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District is working on with George Washington University and other partners, which would aim to draw more tech companies to that neighborhood.
“Our challenge right now is: How do we keep these companies in the city so they can grow?” Falcicchio said, noting that the BID scored $2 million in the city’s 2022 budget to jump-start work on that district.
Falcicchio said the trip additionally gave him a chance to connect with other startups at a fintech conference, where he pitched D.C. as a place where they might consider locating if they’re looking for access to Greater Washington's bevy of highly educated tech professionals. Goodall said she was similarly trying to sell that “intellectual capital” and the city’s “connectedness to the rest of the world” as she spoke with businesses interestedin joining Halcyon’s incubator — or working with its investors.
“We try to act as a net attractor as an organization,” Goodall said. “People come to us to build their business and often stay. It’s all about, how can we continue to get great pipelines from the rest of the world and build up D.C. as an ecosystem?”
In general, the trip is likely to generate more intangible connections than anything else, Falcicchio said.D.C. leaders have generally been confined to Zoom meetings with international business executives since the pandemic began — Bowser last led a full D.C. delegation to Ethiopia in November 2019, but she didn't attend this trip — and this was a chance to finally meet face-to-face and slowly start a return to international business.
“These should really be long-lasting relationships we’ve developed,” Falcicchio said. “And that includes those with members of the D.C. delegation itself, just making those relationships even stronger.”
