>> business news from the capital region. this is washington business report with rebecca cooper. >> thank you for joining us for a a fresh look at his news and finance and how it all affects you. rebecca is off this week. we will he from one of the founding organizations of the hall of fame answer them with one of thiyear's laureates. and d with all the tech innovation ght here in the nation's capital, why is theepartment of homeland security choosing to en an office in silicon valley? our one-on-one interview is withh the head of honest tea.

he started his company knowingng he w wanted to stay true to his values. he managed to do that dpite partnering with e of thehe biggest: m manufacturers of l me. he is one of five washingtonians to be named to thehe business hall of fame. his latest accolade is likely not going to go to his head. rebecca: congratulations. and then ducky this year. how does it feel to be inducted in such a young age? seth: i started the biness out of my house herere. so be cognized by the local community, i realllly apeciated. it started with being an activist. i was politically acve in college and i worked on the dukakis campaign.

i was always looking for a way to take things i care about and put them into action. the surprise for me was it led to a career in business. in college that isot where i thought change happened. the surprise for me has been that business has been a way to change the diet, change the way agriculture works, change the y the developing world has an effect on labor standards. rebecca: and your partner yale, he went to yell school at management -- went to the ale school of management to make profits -- seth: we looked at the competitive dynamics and that is where this idea for a beverage emerged.

rebecca: y were working at the investment, nt for a run couldn't find the drink you wanted and came back and said lolook at that case study. let's do this. seth: the serendipity was he was just in india and he's been ststudying the tea industry. rebecca: you followed a path that many us -- many go after yale. you are able to have an impact here because you were working on sustainable investment. seth: it is a mutual fun that they screen out companies that they think have a negative impactct on society. and then they try to identifify entrepreneurs doing mission driven things, whether it is around health or environment for economicevelopment. that is what got me so excited. becca: whole foods had a big order. what is the secret sauce you sold to whole foods? seth: the

first thing that happened is i went i -i looked at what you were offering and you have all these strings at 100 calories per eight ounce serving. there is this huge void. i know i am missing that drink in that drink in thehe 15 to 30 calorie range. i actually had -- this was the bottle i brought. it is an empty snapple bottle with labels on it. the buyer tasted the product, he understood the v void. whether or not there was a real opportunity there, only the consumers can tell. rebecca: you had a big order seth: -- big order. seth: 15,000 bottltles. to us that was a huge order. recca: i want to talk to you about the washington based --

you are right here in the heart of the fes the, maland.. but it is n not some corporate office. it looks like a health food store. did coca-cola say if you're going to be with us you have to go big or go home? seth: when we started the company wey ad this investor from boston common. ashcroft come in. -- invesr from boston come in. they said we ke what you are doing but you can't have a a bethesda address. that is not honest. why can't bethesda be a place where health foods emerge? we have the most educated pulation in the country.

and then they came to visit us a first time. they said d we really want to see is where regular r&d happens. we bought up -- we brought up products for health magazines. we watch -- we walk them into the kitchen and we make all of our products in this little kitchen. they said this looks like your lunchroom.m. we set it is also r r&d facility. rebecca:he hall of fame award you are going to be receiving us from your achievement. they are built -- they are big believers in passing on that knowledge to the next generation. you have a n next generation. tell us about your family and how much interest of a halalf. -- interest they have. seth: our whole family is

vegetarian which camame from our oldest son, was questioning our diets and our impacts on food. that same son is the one who encouragaged me to write a comic book. he l looks at thworld differently. we realize in the tone of junior achievemement we want to help young people envision how we business comes together. if you were to put a 300 page text in front of a group of high scol students most of them are going to find other things to do. rebecca: you truly believed he can change the world b because it is healthy. you are but -- you are a big believer in where you are buying tea. seth: this business s isn't chity.

what we are doing is being able to support some of the communities. just through our business practices we are able to raise the economic standards in these counities. we buy tea for them. because it is fair trade we are making sure that working conditions are good and s safe and they are meeting all the wage laws in the community. are a also reinvesting whether it is help old irastructure, help schools and children. weust brought i care to a whole community in northern india. becca: you once scribed it -- you feel like some of you entrepreneururial passion came from your parents. accordg to your father, who is a professor of russian economics, you said your dad is entrepreneurial in that he is always creating w educational programming.

seth: that is really it. i still don't think of myself as just a business entrepreneur. rebecca: what did you learn from your dad? seth: it can be driven by a passion and optimism. he would create the programs -- he would wake up in the morning and have an idea of breakfast. by the end of the day t the steps would be in place. this idea that you can always do more planning, do more studying and analysissometimes you have to get o there and do it. you will understanreally quickly where the challenges ar rebecca: congratulations and ththank you for joining us. seseth: ank you. bruce: maybe you are next. stay with us.

bruce: we want to hear more from the washington business hall off fame, whicich s founded byby three organizations. the greater washington board of trtrade, washitonian magazine. we are joined by the chief operating office -- chief opering officer. fiveaureates in all. and for oers. this is a heavyweigh andy: sheilala johns is

currently the ceo of salamander hotel and resort. she is a fabulous example of a woman business leader in this town foror the students involved in our program. shes a key philanthropist and a driving force in the entertainmnment industry. and thewe have joe rigby, the chairmrman and president of pepco holdings. she has bn a very strong supporter of t the nonofits in our area. great for our community. and then j john, who was retired. he served in the army infantryry in world war ii in europe. waseeply involved in the northern virgia business. can't say enough about scott. he is s the chairman and c. he is a year banking veteran.

bruce: more than 100 pple have been indted into the hall of fame. can you tells about the selection n process? andy that is confidential. we seek to honor the best in our business community to support the next best in our busines community. the folks ha done a remarkable job gilding washington -- job ilding washington. alall of ournductees have played an integral p part and that in making washington what it is today. respect when i h have the opportunity to think about some of the folks in the hall of fame -- it just reminds you that this is washington -- washington and this region are the big leagues whenen it comemes toto business and

commercece. anandy: we had some excellent inductees. this community and the people who have put a lot of efforort into making washington a vibrant communityy -- they are the very best in this country. bruce: december's event has a community conntion. andy: this ishe largest fundraisinevt. we raise $1.2 million to o support our ucational efforts, kindergarten through 12th grade. we teach students financial literacy, , work readiss, and entrepreneurl skills. we have one open in fairfax a second one oning in prce gege's in the fall and another one coming online in montgomery countyty in a year and a half.

this support that the community shows us a allows us to provovid this wonderful programming foror ouour students.. itit gives them the 2 20th century ills they are going to need to go o out and succeed as an adult. uce: greathat they are thinking about the world outside the room where you are going to be i in december. good having you here. when we return, white dhs is proof -- why dhhs is looking elsewhere. and whether northern virnia's carly wod have a good chance of making it to 1600 pennsylvania avenue.

respect ccast says it's over. it will not trtry to merge with time warner cable. hillary clinton probabably wishes she could close t the clays that quickly as allegations of wrongdoing swirl around her. joining uso talkbout those headlines is j jim vininegar and richard leavitt startling newsws this week. the decision by comcast a time warnrner cable notot to head to the alaltar. jim: i it unraveled qukly in the lastst cple ofays.s. it was the megamerger of the year. a lot of moneyeing spent on it. certainly a lot of lobbyining as well. i n't think thateans comcast won't word d -- wo't merge wi

someone, i don't think that means timesn't up for se. it will get active again sn. bruce: presumably their decision to rideath - -- their decision to withdraw their merger applplications was a sign that either it was going to be a tougugh slog or at the end of the ocess it was likely to be reject. jim: you're looking at two important agencies that have risdiction. the federal cocommunicationsns commission and jusustice department. th is a pretty big leap for everybody and they bothad some al concerns about this merger. bruce: puts focus o on 2016, , a lot ofof talk going forward. itit is going to be abt the democratic front-runner. she is so far ahead of the pk it feels like she is already the nominee.. this new book about hillary

clinton and potentially troubling overlapping circle as it relates to money in the clinton foundation. itust like the conversation is just beginning. richard: it is, but only for a little while. hillary clinton has been dealing with these kinds of allegations since whitewater 1992. it was the new york times that tried to make the story legitima. even theuthosays no laws are broken. no ethics have been n breached. for the republicans what they haveve to beonrned about is do these constantnt attacks at sometimes wear thin? i think for some of this it is going to be launching. jim: thihis is very early in the presidtial camign. this is what candidates get to consider. whether or not the's anything in their closet the knees to be concerned. she has weathered ny over the years.

it is interesting this may flip back on the accusers instead of the accused. whitey you keep bringing ththings up? why d do you keep going after ththis? the mesge does get to wear thin but there is plenty of fodder out there. bruce: it seems like everyone is fi for t their nomination. we have a businesspeperson poised to throw into ththe race. richard: you almost have 12 angry men there.e. carly is p pulling in mewhere between 2% nationallyy and 1% in new hampshire. she is not goin to be a serious candidate, but she serves an important role. if chivalry ever enters the race if there is blowback on the 11

likely candidates, then they have fememale to argue against. bruce: should the local highgh-tech community feel sg by the department of homeland security looooking so far r west? jim: our collective action needs to get together. it is rs to lose and in mamany respects when you have virginia and maryland arguing with each other over the home dececider, we are missingut through silicon valley. no one matches whawe have in this region in terms of strtrength associated with cyber community. the cyber command, the a, the pentag it is all here but we spend so much timime arguing wiwith ourselves that we fail to release that fail to realize our competition is here. they have to develop a better relationship witthe tech

community. the vernment here. bruce: when return the final question, is this the end of the major -- end of the megamerger?

>> lets and where we began, the dissolutioion of the comcast time warner merger. jim: there are a lot of things to merge. airlines, banks, big tech companies and others. who spanank a belief that bigger can be better. richard: jim is right. there's too mu money and too much profit. bruce: thank y guys.. let us know what youhought of the show. unlike us on facebook and follow on twitter. watch past interviews at wjlwlw.com. --

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morris: this week onmorris: "government matters" -- >> if you want to serve yourr constituents, you should go mobile. morris: how google's new search algorithm will impact government . >> the department of homeland security is nalizing plans t open up a satellite office in silicon valley. morris: that was just one of the key announcement at this week's conference in san francisco. we talk trends in cyber. >> they are designed to be the watchdog on behalf of the american publilic and congress. morrisis: the role of an inspector general has a lot in common with that of a tightrope walker. why are so many of those positions vacant? "government matters" starts right now. >> thiss "government matters." morris: to our