Ceo, n now holds the title of present and ceof the. C. Chamber of commercrce. We sat down to talk about ways that he wants to give back and the city where he was born. Welcome to washington business report. You are a humble guy. I read the resume. We are the same age, 48 8 years old. Graduated from high school in 1984. I was exhaususted halfway throuh your resume. You had so many different lives already. Naval accademy, you went to yale lawchool, youre a navy seal, a corporate lawyer, capitol hill staffer. He worked at the fcc. Lets start with the Naval Academy. Well, my father was enlisted in the army. He had a big influence o on me. Thiseally, i grew up with strong tradition of just feeling like i needed to contribute. Some of my earliest memories were in a taxicab with my dad. He drove the taxicab for extra money, t to make ends meet. We were never really hungry i remember going to stores around the city. There was one that was big on 14th street. And it was actually so where that someone would find out that i had no close. What led you to some of these other ventures . Lets start with the Naval Academy . I wanted to serve. I wanted to be an astronaut, a marine. I was a freshman at the Naval Academy. Went to annapolis and saw a picture of some seals. They have their regular uniforms on. Someone said, those are seals. I have to say, as First Leadership i just feel so fortunate and part of that family. What made you decide it wa time to move on . N . It was a hard choice. My dad was a paralegal. He was so exexcited i got this b as a paralegal. When i went to law school, i have this image that i would do workarounds telecom and on the business side and make a difference for tt market. Sen so then, fastforward to fcc, commerce committee. I was in the Generals Office at the time i was being considered. It was a real exciting time. We were trying to accelerate the blend of technology. It was during that time that i realized that there were some way things having a law career is so fulfilling. There are so many people in washington, d. C. Just a great career path and opportunities in the city. Lobbyist, that, as a you could find a way to create thingsnd get to a gl as efficiently as possible, perhaps. As a lobbyist, you can actually move into what is next. Everyone else e works out the details. A lot of times. I opened up the possibily of lobbying and that was exciting to do that. So, i spent five years at google. Lets talk about the google ethos. I find it fascinating. Larry page, sergey brin, ties to the university of maryland. It is aompany with a lot of fascination in the d c area. It is still in silicon valley. I laughed at one of the interviews you did with a magazine. You were descring your first day at google and how dififfere it was from being a navy seal or in aaw firm. You were trying to describe the ball pitit that theyad a goog le. You did not even know the name for it, you are out of your element. I have to find my pictures. I was i took my tie off and i just jumped in and that was it. I jumped in and started laugughing. It was great. Here you are at the d. C. Amber. You say yoyou always like to goo the next place where you see growth. Do you see this as a city with a potential for growthth . Not a lot of people always believe because of the regulations high cost of rent, higigh cost f wages. You see potential for growth here. What do you grade yourself by here . [audio deleted] how businesses do. We are in the business of business. My mandate, my honor is to be able to work with the team to try to make washington, d. C. A better place to start a business, to grow a business. To have the whole city benefit from that. The metrics would be jobs. The rate ofgrow growth. Attraction and retention of great companies. Wh you were first named as the new president , not everyone kn who you were. It was easy to see from your resume w why they wanted you. Why did you want this job . Now youre takg on other problems and youre taking on the bureaucracy and legislation and things that your career has been about brking down. Why did you tatake this on . Is a path that has merit. We can make our great city even greater. At one point, this was the Negro Chamber of c commerce. It became re inclusive. We are still getting it to that level where we have companies that like verizon and pepco and microsoft, engaged. In addition to gw univer sities. When i heard a about this opportunity, i was contacted by a headhunter. A city leader put my name into the t. I looked at this and i thought it was my wife. She is a judge in the city. I said why would you do that . Do you know what youre doing . I thought, you know, i think there is a science. We could broaden the path by capturing opportunities, for d. C. To be the east coast hub for technology. I saw that. This is apart of me leadership opportunity and a chance to the staff committed to the same thing, that drew me in. What better chance to work with all the businesses in the city . I realized how much i care about where i grew up. I continue to go to church on division avenue. And i saw this. The reason i took this job was a chance to do well, but also do good. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Return, our Small Business spotligight, th important tips fro an expert on saving money and time when it comes to managing new revenue. Stay with us. Herbalife has Vitamin Supplements for the whole family. I use Herbalife Energy drinks before a long workout. I use the protein shakes. They h help me manage my weigh. We started in 1980, and now have millions of customers around the globe. We employ over 7000 people worldwide and were growing everyday because our products help people live healthier, more active lives. With a better diet, exercise and herbalife, ive lost 22 pounds and feel great. Find out more at i am herbalife. Com welcome back. Students are back in school, ying to put their nenew habits in pce to ep them so long track. Without is w would be a good time to didiscuss good habits fr small busiss. Who needs tax tips during tax season . We want toalk now about doingng the things that will hehelp allf you cash in at t tax time and yr round. Toinvited back d mcmckay she herer expertitise. She is a certified finanancial planner and Wealth Advisor w wih yeyears of expererience helping business, and now a new t title, president d c. Welcome back and congratulations on the new company. You will be one of the Small Businesses following your own advice. You brought tips that Small Businesses should follow. E first is one we shou all follow, especially Small Businesssses. Keepood records. You call it t five fruits and vegetabl a day for Small Businesses. Its the adadvicece that we al know. But some ofof us dont consistently do it. We know wewe should keep good records. I dont. I am the lt person in the buildingo turn in my expense reports. I wo for a large enoh company that they can absorb me messssing up Small Businesses cannonot absor that. If you are audited, you ned to be able to show a receipt and records for every single reduction ure taking,g, big o all. Get a system in place. There a lot of scanners on thehe marketet. Lots of software. It doesnt matterer what you us, just g a system in place and use it. If y dont have the energy or expertise, p pay somebody to do it mberer two, have good, great cpa. Have a dear friend who is a brilliant smalall sinessman. He i is so gooood at sales and ideas. Hes lousy at recordkeeping d he is the first to admdmit it. He does ha a teaeam. You say to delegate. Right. It is credibly important to ha a c andnd someone who act aonsultant. Is someone who cannot put the information in that you could do by yourself. A good cpa is your team of consultants, of siness adsors, that e not only looking at what happened in the past quarter, but what does the next quarter lk like . By november, you should know what your textxtiles look like. And what about conveations that you know are coming up next week . Accelerate them into ts year to maximize your deduction. It is like the docts office. Youre reluctant t to tatake upo much of f their time we have this problblem solved fromom last t month could i delve in nextonth . You say dee into nexyear. When you going tinterview people, set expectations. If they dt want to take that much time, they are nonot the right consultant. It and avoid comonn oaud trapaps. What are those . . Number one is mistegorizing employees. Y are cassill flying them as 1099, red flag. If t irs findshat you have done something wrong, not in line wh the code,he c cpa will not pay the taxes anpelties. You are. Gogood point. Hopefully we will get tips i want to get to the next one. You say there is good strategy fringe befits for sary. Givinaead of traditional raise to emoyees, coider givinth some rt of fringe benefit. Therere are rtn fringege benets t that are very unique frfrom a t pererspecti. You can take a deduction for ose benefits. The emplee does not have t report them inin the i incncome. They d dont have to o pay payrl taxes. Another w winwin is doning stock. If you dononate e stock, you hae nefits. The stock market has close to alltime hhs n now. Full ierview could be pa of your business strategy. Instead of taking cash, consider taking a highly apeciated stock. Donate that and you get the fair market value. So, that is a grgreat strategy. Community giving is very important. Anthen number six, know your number. What does thatea a smallins people are consntly working in our business. We often dont take the time to step back and say wheris my longngterm plan . What is my exit stregy . If youre planning to sl, what is the numbeyou need to walk away with . Importantly,st to be able to retire susuccessfly and comfortably . That iss just a matter of understanding your personal finaes and how they intertwine to maksure tt your longterm strategy is in line. It all comes bk to being proactive and relying on hers to help you withth profefessionl advice. In ting care of f Small Business. Thank you for joining us. And congratulations. Thank you so mucuch. When we return, the mcdonnel verdict. Will it change business as usual . And what we can a learn from a Defense Strategy that failed. It was a vicryor prosecutors yesterday in virginia. En the said a guililty verdict for foer governor Bob Mcdonnell represented a sad y for everyone in the commonwealth grid was went wrong with the legal teams strategy when it came to selling their message to the jury . What doethis m mean for any bubusiness wanting to bby elected officials . Is it game o over for bung favors in vivirginia . Joining us as one of theopr strategists. They have to effectively communicate eir message when they fail, how to Win Back Public approval. Welcome e back. I was focused on what unts got acquitted. I felt le ey were still trying to position himself a running for office again. That is not going to happen. Hes probably going to prison. What went wng . We dont knknow if he is gog to prison. There will be an appeal. I will be surprised if they dont try to make an exale of the governor. It is, first of all, a very sad day. Th is the office that thomas jefffferson had at one point. He was a pular governor. We look forward to him in a ce for the presidency. It is a huge ball. They be that is why he did not take the sweetheart deal that was offered d for him m and his wife ththey offed him to takeke oe felony couount, plead guilty,e wiwillot charge you with anyi. He said no. And like a tragic episode of law and order taking the wrong s step. Lets te a look at the judges instructions for the jury. They were brought. Theyncreased the definition of what acts are. We look at what the lawyer could have donone differently. One, t they have thepportunity for a good deal. Two, in trial, they were arguing to the law. The judge said it is beyond official acts. Then the shaking that you hear now is the governors and 49 other states concerned of what is this as usual activities are we involved and that the government is investiting . That federal law, the biggest problem that thihis tria what was allowed under the law. The law in virginia allo unlimited gifts. It allowed unlimited gifts to the officials. But, you had to report it. You coulnot do any official act. Once they ought in what that is less than 190,000, i want more for my money. Hand, it looks bad for the governor to be taking l those e giftfts. You are a pro a at branding things. It was a bad brand. Toto be enough for worry, wearig a rolex, when you are right resenting people who are losing their jobs. Whileont ive a ferrari wearing a rolex. Esespecial if it is not your you are rit. It is circumstantitial evidenc thatrobably stf would have stopphehe governo om sendiding i in lighof d day. Bubut there areo official acts. Therere are no appointments. So, i it is traragic. I think thatat it is the long am of t law. Then, we e get down to the opti. W do you deal with those pictures and the wife shaming . Was that a mistake . Or was it the only option they had . And may have been the o onl option because they were trying to disprove it. She would not go to jail for taking the gifts. She would d go to jail for lying ababout the gifts . Clinton tried to make it Hillary Clintons fault about mo rgument no an good a here. We have to be careful that our private moments. Those arent horrible pictes. They are just the optics are so terrible. In a court room, we see that. I sort of feel like it is the young anthe ferrari. I am a normal guy, it isis fn to be in a ferrari guess what . You are not a normal guy. I like covovering governor mcdonnell. You hahave to give up some thin. It is a privilege, and hon. Ifou had a client who was used to doing business as usual in richmond and used to doing ftgiving and buying big meals anthings like that it is still legain virginia. There is a lotf wiggle room. Would you tell your client tgo by what the standard practices or stop doing it . We have always told our clients to steer ear of gray areas. Since that has b been legal virginia, they were nonot legaln the federal level. How ironic time. You have Citizens United saying nate away. You have the federal government criminizing these behaviors by governors. Clients isfrom revolutionary. It used to be that donations and advertising were a way to controthe message. It i is just not that way anymo. That theyow think would be surprised to learn that there is a 25 gift limit. All politicians will have to refofocus on how the brand themselves. Kerry sasaid dave for virginia d beyond. Thank you for giving us your expertise. Stay with us. Herbalife has Vitamin Supplements for the whole family. I use herbalife enerergy drinks before a long workout. I use the protein shakes. They help me manage my weight. We started i1980, and now have millions of customers around the globe. We employ over 7000 people worldwide d were growing everyday because our products help people live healthier, more active lives. With a better diet, exercise and herbalife, ive lost 22 pounds and feel great. Find out more at am herbalife. Com thank you as always for joining us. Plpleasese let us know what you thought of today show. You canan tweet us and you can always comment on our facebook page. All of our interviews and highlights can be seen at wjla. Com. We hope to see you h here again next monday. Thank you for joining us. I am rebecca cooper. This week on government matters, congress has about 10 working days left before the midterm elections. Is that ough time for federal reform . They need to keep it secret. Wade through the market for zero day vulnerabilities. It becomes a case study in the pitfalls of paper procurement. Government matters starts right n. This is government matters. To our viewers around the world, on the American Forces network, and in the tions capital, thanks for joining us. Government is the engine that