Op-Ed By Lew Prince
Chicago Sun Times, Aug 22, 2013

My life is a tribute to the American Dream. My business partner and I started with 300 record albums and a $20 booth at the local farmers market. That was nearly 34 years ago. Vintage Vinyl has grown into a multimillion-dollar company with 23 employees. Based in St. Louis, we stage 150 in-store concerts a year and are the largest independent music store in the Midwest.

We built our business on wages above the minimum. This has given us long-term employees devoted to our company — employees whose ongoing relationships with customers have been vital to our success. ...

Unfortunately, many American companies have been driving down wages to poverty levels that are too low for workers to live on and too low to sustain the consumer demand that businesses need to survive and thrive. In a race to the bottom, the winner ends up at the bottom.

The American Dream needs a minimum wage increase. ...

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http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/22096217-452/paying-fair-wage-h…