By Jennifer Phillips
FOX Carolina, September 19, 2014

GREENVILLE, SC - There's macaroni and cheese, chicken and beans on the menu at Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville. However, on Thursday, diners came for the food and a taste of politics. ... Diners wanted the scoop on issues like immigration, the economy and minimum wage.

On Thursday, members with the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce said they support a federal minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $10.10.

"I think people are having a hard time taking care of a household of bills on minimum wage,"...

By Frank Knapp
September 19, 2014

The expected protestations came in from other business organizations as I expected from my announcement yesterday of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber’s support of at $10.10 minimum wage ... The state chamber that represents the big businesses of the state, S.C. Chamber of Commerce (no relation), claims that increasing the minimum wage would have a “negative impact on business costs and job creation”. We should expect this sentiment from the big chamber which has to protect their big dues paying members like Walmart and Target. But are we really concerned...

Frank Knapp interviews Chris Sommers
U Need to Know, WGCV Talk Radio, Columbia, SC, September 18, 2014

http://yourlisten.com/fknapp/interview-chris-sommers

http://www.uneed2know.info/

By Bryce Covert
Think Progress, September 17, 2014

When you’re hungry, there are many stickers in restaurant windows that may help guide your decision over where to eat: a Zagat rating, a “People love us on Yelp” decal, or even a “1% for the planet” decal. Now you can add another sticker to guide you: one showing that the business supports a higher federal minimum wage.

Business For a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of businesses and business groups that support raising the wage to $10.10 an hour, has launched new decals that members can...

In survey, some businesses say price hikes likely if voters OK minimum wage boost

By Martha Stoddard
Omaha World-Herald Bureau, September 16, 2014

LINCOLN — With election day only seven weeks away, the battle of studies and statistics over a proposed minimum wage increase is heating up.

A survey released Monday concluded that some Nebraska service and retail businesses would likely cope with such an increase by raising prices or cutting employee hours. The survey results were released by the Employment Policies Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank with ties to the restaurant industry. ...

But State...

St. Louis Post Dispatch Editorial, Sept 8, 2014. Also in the Missourian, Sept 9, 2014

With the nation’s minimum wage stuck at $7.25 an hour, it is no surprise that a recent Pew Research study of economic optimism shows that 56 percent of Americans say they are falling behind financially even in the midst of an economic recovery. ...

Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, wrote on these pages recently that small-business owners want an increase in the minimum wage because they depend on consumer spending, which is heavily dependent on...

Labor Day Op-Ed By Thomas E. Perez
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 8/28/14, Des Moines Register, Anchorage Daily News, many other papers

It used to be that you could support a family on a minimum-wage salary. Today, a minimum-wage worker has to make a choice every day: Buy a gallon of milk for the kids, or buy a gallon of gas to get to work. ...

A higher minimum wage is pro-business as well as pro-worker. Employers large and small, debunking the conventional wisdom, have embraced a higher minimum wage and acted on their own to raise their...

Op-Ed by Thomas E. Perez
Atlanta Journal Constitution, Aug 27, 2014

... Recently, Atlanta was the last stop of a five-city tour in advance of Labor Day to have a conversation with business, labor and civic leaders at a forum convened by Invest Atlanta. ... I also visited Bento Box, a full-scale animation studio where I met one worker who has risen in two years to become a supervisor thanks to on-the-job training partly funded by the Labor Department.

My message in Atlanta and at other stops was simple: We’re all in this together. ... If...

Op-Ed by Thomas E. Perez
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug 20, 2014

... Today, on the fourth stop of a five-city tour in advance of Labor Day, I'm coming to Cleveland to have a conversation with local business, labor and civic leaders at The City Club of Cleveland. ... I will also meet with a group of Clevelanders who have experienced long-term unemployment and hear about the challenges they have faced. My message in Cleveland and at other stops across the country is simple: we're all in this together. ...

If you're following the old script, you'll conclude...

Op-Ed by Thomas E. Perez
Houston Chronicle, Aug 15, 2014

... Tomorrow, on the second stop of a five-city tour in advance of Labor Day, I'm coming to Houston to have a conversation with local business, labor and civic leaders at a forum convened by the Greater Houston Partnership. ... My message in Houston and at other stops across the country is simple: We're all in this together. ...

Here's a great example: If you're following the old script, you'll conclude that business almost universally opposes the minimum wage. But in fact, according to recent polling...

Op-Ed by Thomas E. Perez
Los Angeles Daily News, Aug 14, 2014

... Today, on the first stop of a five-city tour in advance of Labor Day, I’m coming to Los Angeles to have a conversation with local business, labor and civic leaders at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. ... My message in Los Angeles and at other stops across the country is simple: we’re all in this together. To continue our economic recovery, we have to put down our pre-determined talking points, identify common ground and get to work.

Here’s a great example...

American Coin-Op, July 31, 2014

... Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners and executives who believe a “fair minimum wage makes good business sense,” published the results of its “scientific national opinion poll” indicating that 61% of small-business employers support increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 in “three stages over two-and-a-half years,” adjusting it annually to keep pace with the cost of living.

“Small-business support for raising the federal minimum wage is strong across the country. Employers favor raising the minimum wage to $10.10 by a 67% majority in...

By Diane Stafford
Kansas City Star, July 27, 2014; updated July 29, 2014

... At the NAACP convention last week in Las Vegas ... In a unanimous resolution, amid calls for “economic justice,” the organization backed raising the federal minimum wage. Since 2009, it’s been $7.25 an hour. For a growing chorus of voices, higher pay has become a civil rights issue. They argue that workers, especially on full-time hours, should be paid a “living wage” — enough to cover basic housing, food, fuel and clothing expenses — and minimum wage’s $15,000 a year doesn’t cut it...