By Megan Brockett
Capital News Service, Maryland, March 6, 2014
UPPER MARLBORO — A day after House Republicans unsuccessfully pushed to amend Gov. Martin O’Malley’s minimum wage bill to provide greater protections for businesses, O’Malley touted the plan Thursday before a group of business owners who support an increase of the state’s minimum wage. ...
Sitting around a conference table at Linemark printers, O’Malley and about a dozen business people from across the state discussed how a hike would benefit companies of all sizes by boosting the economy and reducing turnover costs for companies. ...
Linemark President Steve Bearden was one of several business owners who told the governor that paying a higher wage has contributed to the success of his company. Bearden said his business employs 125 people and pays a starting wage of $10.50 an hour, which he said has helped tremendously with employee retention.
Nancy Meyer, chief executive officer of Community Forklift in Edmonston, said that a small business’s biggest asset and biggest expense is its workforce, and it pays to invest in it.
“Small businesses that don’t pay their employees well often fail,” Meyer said. “If you’re buying expensive equipment, that’s fine, but if you’re not paying your people well enough and training them well enough, your business will fail.”
Meyer said Community Forklift, which sells environmentally-friendly building materials, has a staff of 50 people and pays a starting wage of $11 an hour. She said that small businesses are key job creators, and ensuring they don’t fail is important. ...
Many Republican lawmakers who oppose a minimum wage hike agree. But during a heated debate on the House floor Wednesday, some argued that increasing the base rate employers have to pay will hurt small businesses and ultimately damage the economy when business owners who can’t afford the raise have to cut jobs.
Those gathered at Linemark, though, said an increase would actually benefit many businesses by putting more money into the pockets of low-wage workers, who are more likely to spend their paychecks out of necessity, rather than put them into a savings account.
Denise Bowyer, vice president at American Income Life Insurance Company, called it the “multiplication factor.” By increasing employees’ hourly wages by a few dollars, she said, the employer’s “consumer base is multiplied.” ...
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