By Tyler Arnold
The Center Square, Dec 28, 2021

Virginia’s minimum wage will increase to $11 per hour in less than a week, which is getting some mixed reactions from members of the commonwealth’s business community. ...

One organization called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage is embracing the higher wage. The group’s CEO, Holly Sklar, released a statement in which she said low minimum wages hurt workers who can’t afford basics and hurt businesses that count on people having money to spend. Michael Lastoria, the CEO of &pizza and member of the group, said higher wages show workers they are valued.

By Sarah Gamard
Delaware News Journal / Delaware Online, Dec 28, 2021. Also Yahoo News, Delmarva Now.

Delaware's minimum wage will increase from $9.25 to $10.50 per hour starting in January. In June, lawmakers passed a bill to raise the minimum wage by more than $1 each year until it reaches $15 an hour by 2025. ...

Business owners have had mixed reactions in Delaware. Some support a $15 minimum wage, arguing that it increases consumer spending when the economy needs a post-pandemic boost, on top of improving worker morale and customer service. ...

Kristen Deptula, owner...

Springfield Business Journal (MO), Dec  27, 2021

... Missouri's minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $11.15 from $10.30 per hour on Jan. 1. It's one of 21 states starting the new year with a wage hike, according to a news release from Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners, executives and organizations that favor increases.

"When the minimum wage is too low, it hurts workers who can’t afford the basics and it hurts businesses that count on customers with money to spend," said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair...

By Seth Sandronsky
Capitol Weekly, Dec 27, 2021

Minimum-wage workers in the Golden State will get an hourly pay raise in the new year. ...

There is business support for a higher minimum wage. Karter Louis is CEO of Soul Slice Pizza in Oakland. “For too long, the restaurant industry has put employees last,” he said in an email, “a low-wage model that has proven short-sighted and unsustainable.” ...

Louis, who is a member of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, continues. “If restaurant owners want to thrive, they need to start by investing in their employees...

Entrepreneurs Herald, Dec 16, 2021

Kristen Deptula and her husband bought the Canalside Inn in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in October 2019, with little clue that the summer season would be primarily a bust owing to Covid-19.

The innkeepers were able to get support from the federal government through the Paycheck Protection Program. Deptula also attributes another move —providing their employees a $15 per hour minimum wage — to the company's ability to weather the pandemic.

That wage is far more than the state's current minimum wage of $9.25 per hour. Deptula, a native of Washington...

By Katie V. Jones
Baltimore Sun, Dec. 14, 2021

A week after the County Council passed the legislation, County Executive Calvin Ball put his signature on a bill that will raise the minimum wage in the county to $16 ... The minimum wage increase will be phased in during the next five years. ...

Liz Richardson, owner of Indigo Ink in Columbia, said that raising minimum wage “would be good for business.”

“Since we opened 18 years ago, we’ve seen that paying a higher minimum wage is excellent for business because it creates great company...

By Russell Huebsch
Houston Chronicle Newsletter, Dec 7, 2021

... People who oppose the minimum wage believe that requiring employers to pay mandated government wages forces employers to raise prices and cut staff. On its face, this doesn’t make sense. If employers can raise prices at any time without pricing themselves out of business, why would they have been selling their products for less than what they could have been charging all this time? And why would employers be hiring staff they didn’t need and could cut in response to a wage increase?

People who support...

By Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Fast Casual, Nov. 12, 2021

... The obstacles related to staff recruitment retention and technologies that can ease the staffing pains were the focus of a panel talk ... at the recent Fast Casual Executive Summit held in Charlotte North Carolina. ...Panelists included Andy Hooper, president of &pizza, Eric Ersher, founder of Zoup! Eatery and John Pepper, founder of Boloco. ...

A recent Indeed poll showed there are four times more jobs than seekers and when it comes to interview time 80% of candidates are no shows. There's a labor churn of...

By Kim Dacey
WBAL TV, Nov 2, 2021

WATCH VIDEO

Some council members in Howard County are introducing legislation Monday night to raise the minimum wage to make it the highest in the state. ... It’s a move that council members said would affect 40,000 workers in Howard County.

"Today in Howard County, one in four families struggles to put food on the table and over 13,000 households are severely burdened by the cost of housing. These residents are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers, our family members," Councilwoman Christina Rigby said.

"As our county...

By Kim Daley and Scott Wycoff, reporting
WBAL News Radio, Nov 1, 2021

Some council members in Howard County are introducing legislation Monday night to raise the minimum wage to make it the highest in the state.

The bill would eventually raise the minimum wage in Howard County to $16 per hour over the next several years. ...

Council members Jones and Rigby are officially introducing the legislation at the Howard County Council meeting at 7 p.m. They say living in Howard County is unaffordable for those making the current minimum wage and many families...

By Ben Casselman
New York Times, Oct. 19, 2021, Updated Nov. 3, 2021

Fall was meant to mark the beginning of the end of the labor shortage that has held back the nation’s economic recovery. ...

Some businesses are already changing how they operate. When Karter Louis opened his latest restaurant this year, he abandoned the industry-standard approach to staffing, with kitchen workers earning low wages and waiters relying on tips.

NorthcentralPA.com, Oct 18, 2021

Willow Grove, Pa. -- Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary Jennifer Berrier was joined by Senator Art Haywood, Representative Ben Sanchez, the CEO/founder of &pizza and its employees in Willow Grove to urge for an increase in what they call "Pennsylvania's archaic minimum wage" to help workers earn a more fair, livable wage in today's economy. ...

&pizza said it pays its workers a livable hourly salary in addition to tips. ...

Secretary Berrier toured &pizza, a fast casual pizza restaurant chain, and met many of its employees. The restaurant...

CBS3, Oct 14, 2021

Governor Tom Wolf’s administration is joining forces with a pizza chain owner in the call for raising Pennsylvania’s minimum wage. Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Labor and Industry visited &pizza in Willow Grove on Thursday.

Michael Lastoria, who owns &pizza, said an increased wage is critical to keeping people in the food service industry – and keeping them happy.

By Hadas Kuznits
KYW News Radio (PA), Oct 14, 2021

Kelly Maguire, shop lead at &pizza restaurant in Willow Grove, said being paid $15 an hour has changed her life for the better. ...

“Just being able to come into work — and that’s all you have to worry about, is just working and getting that job done instead of all the 50 other things that are at home,” she said.

Jennifer Berrier, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, hopes other businesses follow suit.

She visited the restaurant Thursday, calling for the state’s minimum...

Florida Channel, Capitol Update, Oct 3, 2021

... Rick Nesbit, President of Alta Systems: "Happy employees make happy customers. ... We're still extremely competitive in the marketplace. With engaged, loyal, happy employees your efficiencies go through the roof." ...

WATCH VIDEO