Local universities are joining the charge of spurring economic growth for the D.C. region.

“I have what I think is the best job in the world. I get to work with Georgetown students to change the world through entrepreneurship,” said Jeff Reid, founding director of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative.

The Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative is meant to act as a disruptor. While most of academia is placed in a few designated skill and subject categories, “entrepreneurship cuts across disciplines,” said Reid.

The initiative is “at the front-end of what students are excited about,” Reid said.

“It’s not traditional, academic-type work. We push the boundaries of the way structures are set,” he told What’s Working in Washington.

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A few startups have already launched out of this initiative including Aquicore, Social Tables, sweetgreen, and MISFIT Juicery. “It’s a wide variety, and it’s kind of exciting to see,” said Reid.

The difference between entrepreneurs in the D.C. area and other places, in Reid’s eyes, is motivation.

“The millennial generation wants to make a difference… many of the companies we work with, and what our students create, are companies that are making a profit, and also solving problems in the community,” he said.

To improve entrepreneurship in the D.C. area, he would recommend a “culture change.”

“We have such a big, sprawling metropolis that sometimes you have the jurisdictional challenges of Maryland, D.C., Virginia,” he said.

“People think of entrepreneurs as just those crazy people in California… having a culture change means people know entrepreneurs. They’re part of the community. They’re your neighbors, your spouse works at a startup, all those things,” said Reid.

If D.C. changed its culture, in government, academia and in public, more people would be driven to become an entrepreneur, he said.

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