Washington D.C.
State Resources
The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) is DC’s lead economic development office. DMPED’s purpose is to “assist the Mayor in the coordination, planning, supervision, and execution of economic development efforts in the District of Columbia with the goal of creating and preserving affordable housing, creating jobs, and increasing tax revenue.” The Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) under DMPED provides a number of supportive services and initiatives through its DC APEX Accelerator, Business Development, and Innovation & Equipment Development (Inno.ED) divisions. A range of initiatives are carried out in collaboration with the nonprofit, public-private partnership Washington DC Economic Partnership (WDCEP).
DC Locally Made Manufacturing Grant
The economic recovery portion of the DC mayor’s proposed budget for FY 2026 includes $6.5 million for the Great Streets program under DMPED. Part of the program is the DC Locally Made Manufacturing Grant, which provides small businesses engaged in light manufacturing and real estate developers with light industrial tenants with funding for capital or tenant improvements to buildings along the designated Great Streets corridors. In the FY 2025 cycle, $200,000 was the maximum for individual awards.
DC Venture Capital Fund Program
In 2024, DMPED introduced the DC Venture Capital Fund Program to increase the amount of capital available to DC-based startups. The fund program, administered by K Street Capital, is seeded with $26 million of State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding from the U.S. Treasury Department, matched with private investor funds. As of August 2025, K Street Capital was in the process of selecting fund managers, and applications for small businesses seeking funding had not yet opened.
