captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> business news from the capital region. thiss "washington business report" with abc7 national correspondent rebecca cooper. >> and thanks for joining us for a lookt business and finance here in the washington region. it was a week of big ideas fro president oba but what can we expect? will it help the economy and your wallet? that is coming up in the roundtable. and someone you might rognize if y ever stood in one of her long lines. she will share her secret later in the show. first, a conversation with a top

executive at the world's largest auto maker. mark reuss is the president of gmgm north america. he landed the presidency five months after gm declared baruptcy. now thee company has made a comeback so big that it ranks right up there withess arrest and the 2011 street louis cardrdinals. how did he do it? he spoke with chris van cleve this week. >> thank you, rebecca. let's start with gm regaining the title of the world's number 1 auto maker. it is been a remarkable rebound. what have been the keys? >> we are very grateful for the nation could to reportsusupport and the mention in the state of the union speech. i think the focus in the company is now more customer-driven.

that is the genesis and the nucleus of some of the success we have had. we have a lot to do. we will never rest one moment from satisfying our customers with great produducts. it really goes to the products and what people w want. we have autoineups in just about every brand that are different from what we have done over the last two decades. the technolology that we have is now beginning to trickle down. 36 mpg on the highway. those types of things are revolutionary. th are important to us. i think you are seeing the next step in cadillac as well. the car behind me will b be the latest car -- lightest car. that is dramatic departure

from where gm has been in the past. we have put over $5 billion back into the e economy, 6000 employees back online. >> looking toward 2012, what do you see for the auto industry? you're looking at the potential of rising gas prices. how does that play into it? >> you never want to plan something as complex and market- driven as the auto industry around fuel prices. i think there is a permanent shift in the way people want to be thinking about the cars and trucks that they drive. they want to feel good aut the environment. all of those things are really important. planning around and the fluctuation in gas prices, you have to plan the business to be agile and be able to deal with it.

industry-wise, we are looking at about 14 right in there for the 2012 industry. again, we are planning to run gm to have enough agility and around a lot of those variables that we know will change. we cannot forecast tsunamis the european of economy. >> do you believe that it will be -- you will continue to see growth and recovery in 2012? >> yes, i think we will. when we went into the financial crisis that we had, the first thing that suffer the most was manufacturing. as we come out of this and things begin to stabilize gradually the manufacturing bases in the auto industry will be a great barometer and leave the recoverylead the recovery and

the u.s. >> gm's recovery has been pretty remarkable. what advice would you have for businesses that are finding themselves struggling? >> i think it is really important to te that chasing labor markets around the world when you make products -- big business, small business, whatever business you are in it -- that is a very dangerous which to operate. getting the fundamentals of efficiency and satisfying customers is the only true way to have success in theong term. it may look good for a quarter or two, but getting the fundamentals right and products that are better to your customers are the fundadamentals. >> let's talk about the chevy volt really quick. it is a revolutionary piece of technology. it hit a couple of speed bumps.

there has been the concern over what happens in anccident. has gm addressed and fixed the issues? >> i think it was a huge opportunity for us yesterday when our chairman and ceo gave a view to the world of how our company operates. nunumber two, we can always design cars and trucks better as an industry and a company. when we see things are run new technology and severe tests that may or may not ever happen, those are opportunities for us to look at it and how to do it better. we crashed cars with gasoline in their tanks. a 12-volt battery and drain the fuel tank for obvious reasons. we did not have those protocols in place for the battery. those are the kinds of things you learn with new technology. we have to seize the

opportunity and make sure we are doing this right because the cars are a wonderful piece of technology. it pays for itself on a lease base operation-wise. >> yr ceo said the volt was becoming a bit of a political punching bag. >> i think it did. hopefully that is history. we are really working hard to relaunch of the car with all of the transpararency of what it does and how operate there are a lot of people who still say how far does it go. 375-mile range total but if you want to run on electricity, it is around 40 miles. how does it do that? then you have to explain the car. >> last question.

some of the dealers who were unhappy with the way the restructuring happened -- is there a process or have you guys talk about reaching out to try to make good on some of those -- >> if u look at where - this was before my time. i was in australia. we went back in and look at every single dealer and everyplace. there are some dealers that did not want to be dealers any more. there were some dealers that needed help with facilities. this has been a long decline. they needed help with facilities. i think we have been really good in response. we have helped people to relocate in other areas. we are doing that big time in california. i think we had a really responsible approach f this. for the peopleho want a great

cility, we are here for them to help them do that. >> mark reuss, thank you very much. rebecca, back to you. >> thankou for that inrview. that all the show ru through february 5. mark reuss's father was president of gm in the early 1990's. up next, a look at building franchise excess ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, evy innovation every solution comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place.

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judging from the lolong lines it is lily some of you may recognize our xt g guest. for 20 yrs, she has ruled the dough and has run up theales at auntie ne's preretzel ops . joan hurson habeen selng those pretzels here in the washington area a for r two decades and joins us now. welcome back. i just came up to yoin the mall and said i have been watctching you bind discounter for 20 years. you have an lot of f loyal customers. why d did you pick that f franchise 20 years ago? it was happenstance. we had no idea about auntie anne's. my husband and i happen to b-- we wald in and smell this wonderful odor.

we walked intthe store and bobought these pretzels. ter we were back home in 1992 and we were thinkingg of a business to start. all the sting it occcurred to me. the pretzels. the was nothing in this area. what a wonderful thing. i did not know the name of the store. i called the chamber of mmerce thinking that this was a stretch, but lo and behold, she knew exactly what i was talkingng about -- >> and it is been a huge success. you have svived the no-carb phase, the cupcake p phase. what do you c credit your success to? >> it is a mbination. the product is incredible. we are passionate about it and i loved it to this date. ied it all the time. >> for 20 years, i have seen you

behind the counter. you got meat. -- you got me through three pregnancies. whyot take a day off? >> rim there when it is the busiest time. -- i am there en it is the busiest t time. my husband and i are active owners of the store. i am not there all the time. you have to have a good staff. i feel like you also need to be engaged tuesday's successful and to continue the quality and everything that w we were built on. so, we do have good managers and a loyaltaff that have been with us. >>ut it ner hurts to o stay involved. what is the biggestesson you learned the hard way about ownining a franchise? >> one of them is just that itit

is labor-intensivive -- it is hard. it is hard in a very small space keep it organized. the bebesthing we have done in our stores is to traiour people right and to stay involveded with t them. it works. we do have the remote kiosks and we operate out of 395 squar feet of space. >> we have to wrap it up. if you were going to bubuy a brand-new franchises, and the instinctcts for theext hot thing? >>would it be cupcakes? >> cupcakes are pretetty good. there are some things that we are thinkingng about but it is too early y at this stage. >> thank you for sharing your seet. coming up,p, laces? really? slip-on's

the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] now there's a mileage card that offers special perks on united like a free checked bag united club passes, d and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ ♪

okay. what's your secret? ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the new united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in.n. >> on tuesday, we got president obama's take on the state of the union. how did businesses in the washshington area a react to the speech? here to take on that topic jim dinegar,resent and ceo of the eater washgton boardf trade, and peter morici, economics professoat the universisity of maryland. because i told you we were going to talk about thisis topic, i went to get pet's take on the gdp

numbers out on friday. you said there was sappointment within the didisappointment. >> we expect consumers to slow down in the rst quarter. mostconomists were looking for 2%2% growth in the first quarterer. this ibad news for a esident who will be running for o office come spring and summer. look for a good jobs report for janunuary this friday. >> over stocking inventory, as these two are optimistic as a buness pererson. >> that means you mada mistake. >> jim i want to turn to you because we are looking for any silver linining out of the state of the uni address. it is easy to be cynical because it is easy to throw out every ea that you like..

was there anything you heard in the speechhat the washingtonon businesssses would like to see happen? >> i am not t sure a lot in that speech was not a campaign- oriented.. it is the part of the possible and so little seems to be happening up on capitotol hill whether it is his agenda or someone else's agenda. it wille an u uphill battle for quite sosome time. this gridlock continues to b be a big concern. what seems t to be the driving force is debt reduction. were now seng dense cuts start to materialize. ias interesteted in hearing about the realignment. >> wee are goi to separate at to a whole different discussion. >> that is o one of the bigg opportunities for this regioion. >> a good piece was written in

"the washington post." things that actlly might happenhis year, things that could, and things that will n happen. we will start with what would not hahappen. tax reform, tax overhaul's. he said what could still happen and probably will it is a yroll tax holiday. you still have t find the $160 billion to pay fofor it. >> wewe have whwhole departments inin universitieshat do -- >> that will not help your members who w want toto see some deficit-reduction. >> it was a counting mechanic. >> the other thing that cocould happen this year is he this there e will b be a stock acthat

will limit what congress can do in terms of trading information they gain in buying stocks. >> we are talking about a public--sector version of the insisider-trading rules. private executives can be investstigated a and supervised from a stance by the justice department. if the congress has to disciplinene itself, it will have consequence. is the congress willing to subject itself to ththe same general supersion that t private sector i is byhe justice department and the sec? they are very jealous of the separation of powers. bottom line, they are going to pass a nice piece of legistion th has no consequence. >> that is just like moving coffee cups around. it will not h have an impact on theconomy. let's get to some things that could pass. he put one category -- all of

the above, energy and some of the different incentives that president obama laid o out for renewae energy and natural gas explororation. the oil and gas companies have moved away from natural gas and are focusing on the price of oil per bael. >> that was a big statement by him. it is not only the environmentalists, but a lot of people within the administration. governme dollars pitched hard for offshore drilling. in virginia, you have the pipeline. that is ite a concern. we are lookingt shalefor the greater washington region because it is s about thre hoursrs from h here. therere is ample opportunity fofor natural gaso talk about it for vehicles b but y havto be able

to deliver it and not just talk about it. >> we only have about a a minute left. on implement reform requiring more job training, possibly requiring more education standards or a possibility of education reform like flexibility for school it. the impact on the economy -- >> schools are a state responsibility. th is not going to happen. unploymement iurance refm is just going to create another cylindricasolyndra. the presidenent will have yet anher andal on his hands. with alternative energy, all of those other projectare t going to happen. >> you heard all of that optimism. after the break we have an historic number of the week. 2000.

our nber of the week, 2000, e number of money spe in 1908 to incorporatete general motors. it went bankrupt during the depression and managed a bowling alley. that is all for us this wk. we he to see you back here next week. thank you for joining us on "washington business report."

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation every solution comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. o0 c1