>> business news from the capital region. this is "washington business repo" witabc 7 national correspondents rebecca cooper. >> thanks for joining us, for a fresh look at t busineness and nance and how iaffectyou. coming up on totoday's show,w, affordablele caract dedeadline time, whwhat bususinesseses need to know in ouroundtable,ome surprises about wn amicanss haveve been doing with all that cash they y have been savingt the pump. new job numbers sw growth inn thdistrict, t it is roh in the d.c. suburbs. it's time for the second part of our e-on-o-one ierview wh ththe cofoundersrs of 1776, which helps startupsot jusust in the district, buarou the wororld.

this week we find out about the internatational l event. the cofounder evan burfield sayays ithe mostnspirational thing h'ever done. donna harris gives us the insight. >> not everybody in washington d.c. is going to go entrepreneurship, evolution, let me quit my job and start a startup. what they can do is say, how can i help? are there people i know in my network i could introduce you to? can i help you understand how the industry operates, how superintendents think, how heads of hospitals think of technology? you can do that easily without having the entrepreneurial spirit yourself. when you were first contemplating launching, we would invite people in for conversation around this. 99.9% at a time, no one had ever asked them to actually engage

with a startup. simply asking them has really opened aot of doors, and helped create buzz in washington d.c. >> is a plus that d.c. is a government town when it also wants to be a startup place to go? >> to really transform our as citizens, it's going to be hard to do that from within government. you need to find the innovators and go find the entrepreneurs, and you need to set up the right o build these new ideas, scale these new ideas and work with government to really transform the delivery of the services. when we had our first conversation almost three and a half years ago now, it was almost now given the unbelievable assets in d.c., why is it that they d.c. start up community is underperforming based on where it should have all the potentialal? it is very fragmented. >> and inward looking. >> if you were an entrepreneur

wanting to do something in health, accessing all the resources that d.c. had to help an entrepreneur would be unbelievably h hard. we have been focused on this for several years now. all we do is align those resources to help entrepreneurs. it h has still taken a couple of years. if you were one individual entrepreneur trying to tap into these resources, i it is prohibitive. >> do the founders of 1776 belie it is better to be a rule breaker or a rule follower when you are starting a company? >> we are the rule breaker. we tell pele, u will be better off if you ask for forgiveness than permission. think about the social framework you exist in. go unlearn for yourself, take responsibility for your own direction. don't be lazy. don't expect me to do that learning for you. don't ask me for a mentorship meeting if you have not done our

homework. respect the social capital. it's a about giving, and getting. can't just be about getttting. while we are remarkably interested in helping give you resources and connections, we also expect you to get back to the community. every single person has something they c get back. >> for 1776, founders pick only the startups they think have real potential for success. both agree persistence can pay off when others donon't believe in your sta' to. --tartup's potential. >> i wl go to air b&b. i i did notnderand aiair b&b. i first heard about it years ago and i was thinking, why would i want to open my home to strangers, or b stay in a complete strtranger's house? i did not t think air b&would go. kudos to brian and his team. that truly is a fine line when you have a visionary idea that a

lot people like me go, i don't get it, but they have been able to be successful because it is a dramatic change in the hospitality market. >> i will give my own personal mea culpa. when good world is an a that allows you to donate to any cause youou care about by saying #donate in a twitter feed or facebo feed it was probably three months, four monthths at i just did n get it. i think the epiphany went on for me at one point -- i finally sat down and used the early version of the app and went, i got it. they have done a number of campaigns. they raised a nice seed round. >> the founders of 1776 have not only made d.c. cool for startups, but they havstarted the challenge cup. >> challenge cup is a worldwiwide

competion that allows us to go outside of washington, d.c. into the major startup pubs around the world. we run a startup accelerator program. we get to knowhe companies that are there. we find the most interesting ones begin to help them think about their business model think about connections we can make for them. it culminates in a competition where we take 40 companies who are the best within the community, and run a competition to find one education compy, one energy, one health to be named thehe winner in their city. those companies who win from around the world all will come to washington, d.c. and may 2016 to have a global competition to find the most promising companies that are trying toto reinvent the major challenges in our world. >> the vision for 1776 has never been, how do we help companies. it has been, how do we help startups around the world access these resours we have in washington, d.c.

it became oious even halfway through the first year of the challenge cup. it is a broar opportunity than that. we are building a mentor network extends to all these d different cities. we can help a artup in d.c. that's going, i want to see if what i am buiing -- is that applicable to european health care? let's get you on the phone with expertin the german health care system. and then, conversely, we are finding startups all around the world, and we are finding we can maybe help that great startup in sydney get connected with resources in san francisco, in new york thelp scale. >> you hear the theme of connections. it really comes back to the idea that while capital is t the thing that gets a lot of media attention, the thingshat starps need them most are connections. we are sitting in the city that has the single largest set of

connections. that is the currency our city operates on. >> it is probably the most inspirational thing i've ever done. going to these different communities -- australiaia is one of the only countries that has actually passed a regulatory framework for commercial drone operations. a number of startups were really experimenting with using drones in science-fiction ways you can imagine. with nairobi, great situation where there is tremendous opportunities in africa right now. we are just tching up with apple pay and everything. you have tremendously interestin educational opportunities he, a rising middle class. looking at a lot of thes problems throu a very different lens theyou ght hanging out in papalo alto or

bethda. >> when we return, small businesses are not required to offer health care coverage, but maybe they should. what you need to know. stay with us.

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[captioning performed by the national captioning initute, which is responsible for its caption contntent and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> today is deadlinday under the affordable re actct for anyone wanng or needing to sign up for 2015 coverage. individus are requiuired to show they have health care coverarage oror pay a a fine. small sinesses oririginally included in the maate t an extension. this misses with fewer than 50 employees are not required to provide coverage to their emplees. joining us to explain what small businesses have to do and what they should do to be competive in this marketplace is joe applebaum comeme a president of potomac companies. >> thahanks for having me.e.

potomacompanies is not faith -- an organizatition tt help companiess support the future quest of health care. it is difficult. >> the l has changed so many times since it passesed. what is the cucurrent requiremen who s torovide health care coverage and who is off the hook for now? >> the mandate has employe or individuals requiring to have coverage.. sunday is the last d d foror ope enrorollme. everyone at the e country mustst have coverage. >> video goingng viral from buzz feed whapresident obama does when he is home athe ite house is vy funny. himesperately tryinto reach this youngnger audience, emphphasizing they've got to geget their health care coverage. at do small businesses need to knowow? >> s small businesses are not required if you're under 50 employeeto have coverage. >> hopefully they are live.

>> would hopope they are alive. there e is an unspoken rule, if you ar an employer, you're trtryingo attract and retatain employeeees. there are much largrger companies that arere required to offffer insurance now. if you are a small employer, do you disregard that? you are pulling from the same pool of emplees. >> wt is your advice? >> really lolook at what your businessodel i and make sure that you are offering coverage. it is afaffordable, re so than the law. what ty should be doinis looking at a paradm shift shifting rathethan not fering cerage or skirting e law, which is very possible.e. the atition rate or turnover rate -- >> forget the rali.

what is the most affordable way for small businesses? is there a more affordable option now that obama care is out t there? >> there are chaes. what the plans were five years ago are noavailable any lolonger.. there needs to be a simpmplification. we have always had multipl plans available to us. employers need to simplify theirir ofoffering and thinkore than kneeee-jerreaction eh year. think three yeyears inin advce. >> the most iortant piece of a device you can give a smalll business today with this deline, should ty call their employees and say, go ahead and gn up today witut us, or should they look to the futurere and plan for next year? >> they should be fering them benefits. it is a pretax benefit for them. going to a exchange is not the answer for small business or large business. >> how long do you expect-

given how many times a lot hass changed,ou have been watching closely. how long do you think small businesses w will happen for it is rerequireded? >> -- before it is required? >> y would have to go down the street and ask -- >> i love it when someone sasays they don't know. >> we are going toave a different iteraration of what we have todayay. >> thanks so much for sharing yoyour expertise with us. the rounable is next. the economicic glass, is it ha full or half empty? what you need to know for the business

>> welcome back. it's time for the roundtable. thiseek in the headlines turns out there's a problem with what cononsumers are doing with all that casash they're saving at the pump.. jo are up in the district, but do in e washington suburbs. our economist says the blue seas surrounding greece are still bleeding red. that could have g implications, even i in the u.s. joining us today, peterr morici, and the reporter not afraid to tell peterer when he's wrong, josh boak. gentlemen, l's get t ready to rumble. peter, you and i have thought ababout greece before. what happened this week and why does it matter? >> greece does not have enough money and never will to pay its debt. it is like radioshack. it has to gogo chapter 11.

the rest othe euro zone ds not want to accommodate. it is likely to exixit the eurozone. the question is, what are the applications for spain, italy, poportugal, the other countries with austerity? greece, not much of an effect on the nancial markets. italy, spain, ve large. >> i think the greeks ha no onbut themselvlves to blame. the germans are being pretty tough with them. does any o of this matter? should the germa back down should the greeks back down? >> if they don't reach a solution everyone will end up with greek yogurt on the face. that is what matters. postururing, the desire to look tough, standup isn't going too help corct t fundamentalal problem that peter outlined. there's too much debt, not enough economic growth. >> it is obvious that yesterday program has failed.

there's too much peonality involved in this debate, in this discussion, and not enough substance. they can't evengree about the facts. it's hard to e how they will get out of this. >> we don't even have time to get all the problems caused by ukraine russia, and inflation of gas p pricess overseas. i wantnt to talk about what we are seeing here. let's start with jobs in our region. in the district, where we need jobs, but down in the suburbs, what is going on h here? >> somewhat stagnant in the suburbs. we added 6000 jobs in the d.c. suburbs over the last year, as opposed to 14,600 inside the district proper. this is one of these real big question we need to o have. why do we have thisis massive influx in the district? you are seeing that drop-off in government spending. >> nationally, it is the city's growing these days, not the suburbs.

what we're seeing is not abnormal. thisis is like the crisis of the 1950's and 10's. whwhy are our cities nogrowing, but thsuburbs are? things are correcting again, and we will have to rethinink public policy. when we think infrastructure in america, ishould not be abobout old in other subway further into the distant suburbs, but winding the pipeline close in so we cann move people around where thehey want to live. >> i'm going to let viewers reach oudirectly to you on that. i i go against the grain. i lived in the district for the last 30 years and thenen i moved out to maryland this year. sh, let me k you about t this problem about savings at the gasolineump. people are saving cashbut they are not spending it. >> that is what the government data is showing. we are not entirely sure what's happening,g, but retail sales that came out this past week -- what we saw was if you take gas out

of the way, spending was flat from december to january. the one area w we sesee growth is restaurants. that's the bigg growth area as far as spending, but there's another possibity of what is going onon is that people are spending more money on services. all those health clubs in the district the charge $30 session -- that is where the money can go, but you will not see that in the retail sales report. >> if you take out gasoline autos and so forth -- ththe basic problem the u.s. economy faces right noww is when oil prices go down, people cut down on drilling. that cuts e employment and it cuts investment. it is taking peopople a whileo get used to the notion that they have all this additial money in their pockets, as much as $1000 a year for some families rate it takes some time to figure out whato do with it, and for themem to believe e it wl cocontinue. >> we've got to figure out a way

to be a savings economy and not ly oconsumer spending. kudos to americans for nally putting some savings in thr pockets. we will come back for this new feature we have been doing, the pop quiz. stay tuned. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. at first we were protecting networks.

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>> welcome back.

itit's time for our newew feature pop ququiz. sh and per, hehere's mymy question for you today. sundayay, the deadline to sign up for obama care.e. the white house trying to get more young people eecially healthpeop to sign up.p. by the e of sunday will th end up p exceeding expectations and gegetting more peoeople signed up, or will it be a disappointment? >> it is like asking who shot jr. it migight be a frenzy dreamscape. at the end of thehe day, what really matters is not how many people signed up, but are ey getting the best in n ineffective care and is it being implementedn ways that lasts -- i'm not sure about that. >> not eugh will sign up >> no. >> w we still have to have people signining up. are they going to e exceed expectations with a sign up on sunday, or fall flat? >> this year 6 million people

are going to be paying fines for not havingng signed up last year and they won't hahave the coverage they need. a lot of people sign ufor the bronze plan, and those plans are not as good as the o ones they had to give . they're discovering the have to have had cancer and in the hospitalal 90 days to have spent engh money. mr. obama usused to talk about when he was a young person -- >>ou have to tell me what t you would do to solve the entire health carproblem. >> 10 seseconds.s. >> benchmark it against the germrman system. pay for drugs in america what germans pay. they spent 50% less than we do. >> mr. president, call me. >> thanknks fojoining us.

>> that sounds exactly like this new organization the white house is proposing. >> the cyber threat intelligence integratation center. is i necessary eco >> it is a huge issue dating back many years. >> it could be oits way ov theroverbial crest thankto amazon web serervices. >> that wait is over. the largest index of federal data ithe world youovernment matters starts right now.