captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business report" with abc 7 national correspondent rebecca cooper. >> welcome to fresh look at business and finance here in the waington region. today, t the greatest show o on earth. we will sit downith the head of fd entertainment find out how a local boy turned the big top into a bilillion-dollar business. plus, you can fifind a bank finanance your new business d you will not h have to look any

further after today's show, but first,t was a busy week in business new here is a look at what you need to know. on wall worrisome week street with the dizzying drop on thursday, the dowalling to points as investor concern grew as tensions grow in the ukraine and problems in china. and the showdown continues. >> we fight for o freedom, we fight for our independence, we fight for our sovereignty, and we will never surrender. >> also this week, president obama signed a memorandum directing be labor department to change rules on overtime pay. the president criticized rules meant to protect higher paid executives from qualifying for overtime but are now being used to prevent even lower wage workers from qualifying. >> it is not matter what you do, if it is physical work like stocking shelves, it is not matter iyou're wororking 50, 60, or 70 hours a week -- your

employer does not have to pay you a single extra dime, and i think that is wrong. >> it was a bipartisan group in the senate have reached an agreement to extend long-term unemployment benefits for another five months. pay primarily by boosting customs fees. there were encouragingng numbers on the jobless front. first time unemployment claims ,000.d to 315 it was a bad week for auto giant general motors. in company knew as far back 2001 that it had a deadly problem with ignition switches and kept it underraps. a total of 13 gm drivers died as a result in the problem caused at least 31 crisis. that is not only a pr problem, but now a federal investigation. >> the national highway safety administration has opened a formal investigation into whether gm shared d the information they had aboutut ths issue as quickly as they should have..

>> and joining m now to talk about that rocky rd on wall street this week and the o outlk for our region is bob b pincusu, vice chahairman of eaglebebank. bo thankou for joining us. you are seen n as somomeone wite fingerer on the pulse of the economy. how do you vw the outlook for e washiningtonon area economy ming up inhe rest of 2014? washington to conast versus the rocky road. washington continunues to be a momore desirable place to live. we havjob growth, we have population growth, we have housing continuing to grow, we houousinggbout in both single-family and multifamily. retail is doing extremely y wel. the economyonvinced is diversified enough that even with defefense spending cuts we can weathethat storm? >> yes, we are not longer as dependent on defense or the entire federal government. we are a diversified economy with a lot of opportunity. as a result, people are seeeeing

is, and th are coming to washington. the population, as i said, is growing, and it is a lot of young p professiona and a place where they can have a greaeat ququality of life together with job opportunity. >> speaking of opportunity, community banking overall weathered the storm of the recession better than many big-name banks d did, but eaglebank h has made a name for itself withhenomenal growthth at you all have seen. are you going to sustain the kind o of growowth you have been seeing? >> let's hope so. nothing has changed other than it has been a more imperative environments. for a peod of for five years from 2008 until 2012, our window olending was open. we are a healthy bank, strong balance sheet. we were lending and filling a lot of market share from t the other banks. that being said, today the

biggerer banks are back in the marketet. they would like to steal some of ththat market share b back from, and it is up to us to create a value proposition for our customers and make them feel that we are a a large commity bank that isis going to support their needs, whater the for us.will put on >> spoken like a true business hahall of famer, which you are. stay with us, because for the nextxt segmement, he says that perfecectly. still l coming up, bob will be n e set with business mentor mariss levin. that is after the break. ♪ [ female announcer ] business travel isn't just about the going.

it's also about the going home. and being connected all a along the way. whether you're working or recharging, do business travel on your terms. acela. take off.

♪ >> welcome back. one of the most important factors in the success o of any business ia strorong banking relalationship. many banks are willing to invest in a persosonal relations up wih a business s owner r as they bud toward the owner's success. how do you find the right bank? how here to o take you, marissa levin, ceo of from inforormatitn , ceoerts, a and michellee boggs of mckinley marketing partners, along with their bigger, b bob pincus, chairmrman of eaglebk. why do you think the banking relalationship is s something pe need to focus on? >> because every business needs a solid banking rtner that will get them throrough the groh rve as well l as times when there might be a retracti. we need workining capipital to inve in our people, our infrastructure, r business devepment.t.

spentment contractors,e a lot of money going after contract. a lot of times it takes a lot of money get that back. >> you know what all your eggs one basket or all of your banking. you have a relationship with eaglglebank and others. why is a a community bank a good partr with a business s of your size? >> because of the relationships. we rely extensively and wholly on eagle for information experts and it is because of the relationships and the similar philosophies that they see the long haul, they see the long view. they know it takes a long time to build a business. takeses a long time to build an infrastructure, and they are willing to work with us and really partner with us to make sure w we are doing the right thing. >> michelle, yougive us -- you are giviving us an example of rsonal relationships. are greateat -- there tv commercials about how impersonal things can be. you hahave a personal relationsp with bob that dates back to his

decades in whington. >> it is really nice. my experience of turning to him as an advisor was s in the 199's when i was when a multinational bank. they would not extend my line of credit. dealt with franklin and sold it to a regional bank, a wonderful community rerelationship banker. th have growto a m much larger regional bank in 2008, 2009. so i went to bob at eaglebank and his colleagues, and i have been there ever since, they have been there through the good times and ththe bag. eo, ron n paul, , you share power well. n says you bring a great rolodex with you, and you divide your responsibilities well. what do you see as your biggest responsibility in terms of that client relatnship?

>> i have had the good fortune, i would think it is a od fortune, a perspective that i have been with a regional president of large regional bank twice, and i i have been te ceo for two local banks, which were sold. when ron and i got together, let's form a team, let's form this partnership. my -- i guess one of my greatest attributes in working with ron isis to see him grow, to see him be 50,000et a like foot level and delegating responsibibility so he can get t d represent the bank in such a positive way. as a result, now we are the largestt c community bank the washington area. >> you personally are a great example ofof bouncing baback bee you ve been able to help inks s bounceback during a rececession, during other tough

times, and you personally bounced back not once but twice, two different times in your career -- breaking so many bones in your body that i will not list them al what did you learn from the times thatou have had to overcome adversity? >> i have learned that your colleagues, your family, the support mechanisms that you have -- at the banknk, people really supported me, together with coworkers, employees of a together with the business community -- >> you use that in your relationship? >> i use that because i see businesses, as marissa says, sometimes yoyou hit bumumps in e road, you have a hiccup, and you have to work with these people, these customers of the bank and businesses, to work them through their ordeal. and we are so quick to work with them. we want to help themnurse them back into a position of financial health and become businesseses in t the washingtgton arerea. to help p us ctinue reachihing their growth.

>> other big names that you can be attracted to in terms of their relationship -- why a community bank? >> our company, like so many government contractors -- we have hit some major bumps in the road, and they stuck by us. it was never even a question that they were going to give us the time that we needed and the support weeeded. and you know what, rebecca? it is totally paying off because it is running again and the government contracting industry -- we have gotten some recent news that i shared with bob, and we are way on the way back up now. and you know what? we are all going to enjoy that. >> michelle, we have to o wrap t up. i will let you have the business -- the last word. why committee banks? > during the recession and in 2009, i went through three or ur le of credit extsions, and after the third or fourth one, i said i cannot take this anymore, and i called bob. >> thank you for j joiningng us.

coming up, he was boborn and raised in n washington, d.c., ad now he is making big headlines for turning be picked up into a billion-dollar business. entertainment giant ken feld en we come back. ♪ i was going to the library to do my homework.

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having the internet at home ans she has to go no further than the kitchen table to do her homework. now, more than one million americans have been connected at home. it makes it so much better to do homework, when you're at home. welcome to what's next. comcastnbcuniversal. ♪ >> welelcome back. our next gaze was bor -- guest was born in raised in d.c. now he is makingg headlines worldwide for turning be picked up into a billionollarr business. ken n feld is the innovatorho totook the greatest shshow on eh and made it evenetteter. on top of that, he added many

other big shows the family business. i got a chance t to sit down wih the ceo of f failed entertainmt ju before the circus rolled into his hometown on march 20. i started by asking him how he starred in the circus business. early 1900's, the ringling brothers bought barnum & bailey circus and became alternately -- ultimately ringling bros. and barnum bailey circus. acquiredard, my father in 1967. i was a student at boston university him and he calls me and says -- we are going to roma. e. meet me there, and we will buy the circus. >> you did n go to harvard business school or business school at all. looking back, not getting an nba, do you feel like you made the right choice going straight to work? >> i think my graduate school was learning from my dad. he was a great teacher, and what we would do -- everyone was traveling because all of our businesses were traveling, so i

would go with him, and early on he would say -- don't say anything, and don't be surprised about what comes out of my mouth. so i would sit there, and then the evening we would go to dinner, and it would be a 2.5 hour dinner, and he would smoke some cigars and the cognac, and he would rehash the whole day. he would say -- what would you have done in this situation? then he says -- here is what i did this. so that was my graduate school and d come over a lot of great dinners listenening to my da >> you have been seen as the real success story in terms of the growth of the compmpany. bob johnn said to forbes magazine, he is the president of the outdoor amusement association -- just like disney is the gold stanandard i in the theme p park industry, feld is e gold standard in the circuits industry -- in the circus industry.. what makes feld the gold standard? >> when i go to the circus, i

know what the circus is because i was involved. myatched the circus with wi, and i watched the audience and the response and what engages them. that is how we are constantly changing the business. i think one of the things that i love is change, and a lot of people do not embrace it. i live for change. i get a little bored with things as they were, so we are always tinkering, we are always fixing things, we are always going for what is the next great thing, and how can we make this better. >> you are in a 70 different countries. you have had 30 million ticket sales annually. i am told. and you may or may not want to confirm this -- you are now bringing in $1 billion in revenue in the last year. you got several different companies under feld entertainment. tot did you take to disney nvince them to trust you and trust their r brand with your brand? >> well, and initially i don't

think it started that way. we were on a year-to-year contract, so it was a huge e rik because we have all this capital invested in the show. if they decided they did not like i it, it is gonone. october ofpened in 1984, everything changed at disney because michael eisner -- i went up and i said i am still on a year-to-year contract. the first thing he said to me is i don't know why we were in the ice show business. i do not like i said shows. -- ice shows. panic sets in. i said have you ever seen one. and he said no. i said ok, i want you to come with me. you will fly to los angeles, sit with me, bring whomever you want, tell me what you like, what changes you want us to make , and then give me a y year to x that. after that year, if you like it, i want a five-year contract. at the end of the show,, he says

it is s a lot better than i thought. >> i would take that as a compliment. >> we sat and we talked about things to better engage the audience and ideas for the show. and he was right. and so, with that, we upped the ante and we produced a better show for the following year. he came, he said i love it, and this is a business that can really grow. so now today, we have nine touring companies of disney on ice. >> you say you like to constantlyhange things and shake things up anand you are known asn n innovator, but explain nuclear cowboys. pre-k's nuear cowboys is -- if s have eveseen me ask game >> nuclear >-- cowboys is if you have ever seen the x gameses, we decided insted of just watching them jump and the composition, let's put together a theatrical experience. so we have these writers -- riders who t typically compete

against each otherer now riding with each other. martialhave shaulolin artists that we brought in from china, so we mixed them up. we put all this tother with heavy metal music, we have dancers, and we created what is really like a live videogame. it has become hugely popular. >> o one of my favorite profiles wrote aa profile of you for the "washington post," and hsaid there are someme roles of the rd for ken feld. you perfect bash you personally check out other shows coming you have rules for performance, but first, your eye has to catch it at the start. most importantly at the end of every show, of any feld entertainment show, you always have to feel like you stepped off a roller coaster. >> it is a two-hour show, and if you leave and you can remember four to seven moments, i know

you had the greatest time of your life. i work hard becausi want that. we have high expecectations. our consumer has higher expectations, so we have to transmit those feelings throughout the company, so i think now there is a culturure f excellence, and that permeates throughout the entire company. >> proud to present ringling bros. and barnum & bailey circus . welcome to the greatest show on earth! nicole, who is the oldest, she is responsible for producing ringling bros. and barnum & bailey circus wither sister, alana. she is also response will for producing disney on ice. alana, who is the middle daughter, in addition to the circus, she is responsible for another business, and juliet

works on motorsports. she is also producing marvel universe live, which is the most comomplicated pject. we have been working on it for over a year. we open in july. we are actually in washington, d.c. on the fourth of september, and i think it is the 18th of september we are at the patriot center. but this will be a live experience like none other. >> on the business aside, what is it that you -- besides innovation -- at is that y you hope y you have passed on to yor daughters in terms of business? >> i think the one thing with the busineness -- if it were to stop with me, that i would tell them we faileded. so the idea in everything we do we look at the long-term. everything we have our people have- trusted feld entertainment for 34 years with her most prized

characters, the essence of w wht they are. it is because we treat them like they are our characters and stories. we do that with everything. ringling bros. and barnum & bailey circus -- 143 years old. the oldest continuous entertainment in this country. the only thing tt keeps me up at night is the nextxt show. it is not what we have but did we do a good enough job now that next year we will get everybody to come back plus new customers? that is the key to thehe succes. k washington success or a ken feld for hiinnovation and much more. we will be right back. ♪

>> thihis week on "government " -- rs >> makining it easy for users to do the right aim should be an important tenant and everyththig we din cyber security. >> the popularity of smartphones and tablets could spell the end for student cards. >> the prices going up. >> part of that increase will pay for