Op-Ed By Charlie Crystle
Journal Tribune (ME), March 31, 2017 (Ran earlier in PA papers)

At the Lancaster Food Co. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, our tagline is "Eat Better. For Good."

It's the "For Good" part I've been thinking a lot about lately as this caustic election year has come to an end.

Among voters, there is great support for raising the minimum wage across the political spectrum. Pennsylvania, and the federal government for that matter, both need to get with the times. A minimum wage of $7.25 an hour keeps people in poverty, and that's not...

By Dakarai Turner
ABC2 News Baltimore, March 24, 2017

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh announced she would veto a bill that would set the city's minimum wage at $15 an hour.

It wasn't well received at Baltimore Bicycle Works, where co-owner Josh Keogh said employees already make above the current state minimum wage. Keogh believes an increased wage would lead to increased profits as more people have money to spend.

"People don't have enough money to sustain themselves, and that's a crisis in the city," Keogh said. ...

Watch and Read More

By Lorraine Mirabella
Baltimore Sun, March 23, 2017

Supporters of Baltimore's $15 per hour minimum wage bill called on Mayor Catherine Pugh to deliver on her promise to support the higher wage ...

Josh Keogh, one of the owners of Baltimore Bicycle Works, said he believes his customers and future customers who get raises will have more money to spend at his Station North shop, which sells and repairs bicycles and accessories.

"It would be giving people who work in Baltimore something closer to a fair wage," Keogh said.

Because he employs fewer than 50 people —...

By Lorraine Mirabella
The Baltimore Sun, March 21, 2017

Some businesses applauded the council's move, saying it would help businesses, neighborhood and the economy as workers have more money to spend throughout the city.
"We've found that when you invest in your employees, they invest in your business," said Andrew Buerger, owner of yogurt drink maker B'More Organic...

By Luke Broadwater
The Baltimore Sun, March 20, 2017

Baltimore's City Council voted overwhelmingly Monday to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. ...

Op-Ed By Andrew Buerger, Founder, B'More Organic

As our company name, B’More Organic, will tell you, we’re invested in Baltimore’s success. That’s why I recently took time to testify before the Baltimore City Council in favor of gradually raising our city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. ...

Op-Ed By Pierce Powers, Owner, Lona's Lil Eats
My wife and I own a local restaurant, and we are very pleased that the Missouri Supreme Court ruling means that the city of St. Louis can finally implement the minimum wage increases passed in 2015. Raising the minimum wage is good business and good ethics. ...

By Dan Menefee
Maryland Reporter, March 7, 2017

The fight for a $15 minimum wage went before the House Economic Matters Committee on Tuesday — and not all businesses are opposed to this national push for higher pay. ...

By Sarah Polus
Washington Post, March 7, 2017

Muriel Bowser’s talents go beyond politics — on Monday night, the Washington mayor showed she can also mix up a mean cocktail. Developers Jim and Mai Abdo threw a party to celebrate the opening of their new Foggy Bottom micro-hotel, Hotel Hive, and a neighboring new location of &pizza. ...

And it was a thank you to &pizza. The D.C.-based pizzeria helped push Bowser’s fair-wage bill, which raised the District’s minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2016. ...

Read more

By Luke Broadwater
The Baltimore Sun, March 6, 2017

Baltimore's City Council, pushed by a group of freshmen members seeking dramatic changes, gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. ..."Today is a day I've waited for a long time," Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said after the 12-3 vote. ...

But some area businesses backed the idea. Josh Keogh, the co-owner of Baltimore Bicycle Works, called paying a "fair wage" a "great investment" for his company.

"Gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 will give customers more...

By Stephen Loiaconi
Sinclair Broadcasting Group, March 3, 2017

WASHINGTON (Sinclair Broadcast Group) — ... The Baltimore City Council advanced a bill this week that would raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. It could get a vote by the full council next week. ... One group supporting the Baltimore measure is Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a network of business owners and executives who say higher wages lead to lower employee turnover, higher productivity and more customer satisfaction. ...
Holly Sklar, the organization’s CEO, said the experience of communities that have raised their minimum wages does not bear out predictions of job losses and shuttered storefronts.

By Sam Harnett
Marketplace, February 17, 2017

CEO Bill Phelps says his thoughts on minimum wage have evolved. In 1994, Phelps co-founded the fast food chain Wetzel’s Pretzels, which has almost a hundred outlets in California. ...

The state increased the minimum wage in mid-2014 and raised it again Jan. 1 on its path to reach $15 per hour by 2022.

Phelps worried increasing wages for his employees would cut into profits and that if he raised prices to compensate, fewer people would come eat and sales would drop. But something else happened entirely. Sales at his California stores...

By Matthew Steecker
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Feb. 16, 2017

... The minimum wage is currently set at $9.70 in Upstate New York. In New York City, minimum wage is currently at $11 for employees of businesses with 11 or more employees and $10.50 for businesses with 10 or less employees. The minimum wage for workers in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties is $10. The minimum wage will reach $15 at the end of 2018 for employees of New York City businesses with 11 or more employees, the end of 2019 for employees of New York City...

When working people make more money, they spend that money—and businesses hire more working people to meet increased demand

By Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City
The Daily Beast, February 15, 2017

Families across America are struggling to make ends meet. Many workers cannot survive without two or even three jobs. Meanwhile, CEOs are taking home sickening amounts of money. It’s happening all over, but if you want especially egregious examples, look no further than the fast-food industry.

That’s why all of us should be deeply disturbed by President Trump’s choice for secretary of...