Michael Akin, George Washington University School of Business BA ’03, MBA ’07, and current president of Reingold LINK, has been named the 2015 Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the Washington DC Chamber of Commerce. Akin received this award thanks to his role in growing his company from a small shop with local clientele to a national brand with more than 60 clients around the country.
Reingold LINK is a firm that specializes in full-service strategic communications and stakeholder engagement by providing personalized assistance in public and media relations, marketing and communications, branding, online engagement, digital strategy, event management, and creative services for corporate, government, non-profit, and association clients. The company is based in Washington DC.
While studying at GW, Akin served as assistant vice president of government, international, and community relations, overseeing and managing the university’s outreach to city, state, and federal officials and agencies; embassies; business, civic and cultural organizations; and community groups. He was named the school’s first director of community relations in 2004, making his office the university’s “go-to” resource for community and city residents who had partnerships to propose, challenges to address, or problems to resolve. Akin built community partnerships while in school to help overcome classic “town/gown” friction.
This award is given annually by the DC Chamber of Commerce. The organization specializes in three things: To reduce the cost of doing business through regulatory reform and work for changes in federal and local laws, introduce members with fellow members and with prominent business leaders in the District, and to provide members with tools to build their businesses, including educational outreach, networking, and procurement opportunities.