By Ashlyn O'hara
Alaska Public Media, January 23, 2025
Alaska’s minimum wage has increased annually since voters tied the hourly rate to inflation in 2014. Earlier this month, it went up by $0.18 per hour, from $11.73 to $11.91. But this year, the minimum wage is going up twice. On July 1, it’s jumping by more than a dollar – to $13 per hour. That’s after voters passed Ballot Measure 1 last November. The initiative increases Alaska’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027. ...
Not all businesses oppose the changes, though. More than [130] businesses around the state created Alaska Business for Better Jobs, a cohort supporting Ballot Measure 1.
David Ottoson was a part of that coalition. He owns Rainbow Foods, a small grocery store across the street from the state capitol building in Juneau.
He has about 30 employees who all make more than minimum wage and get paid time off, and have for years. Ottoson said that means they won’t have to make any changes to comply with the new law.
“It just made a lot of sense to raise the minimum wage... That’s kind of pitiably low compared to the cost of living,” Ottoson said.
Ottoson said he boosted wages and started offering leave during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he struggled to find workers and wanted employees to have paid time off if they got sick. He said the results were surprising. Ottoson said Rainbow foods has been more profitable than ever the last few years
Ottoson said it’s about thinking of employees as assets. Investing in those assets, he said, has helped recruitment and retention. And ultimately, that’s good for business.
“If you take the viewpoint that they're an asset, then you want to invest as much as you can in training, in wages to the extent you can,” he said. ...