By Aimee Picchi
CBS Money Watch, March 26, 2014

In the battle over the minimum wage, low-wage workers are getting a helping hand from corporate America. Dozens of executives and business owners are meeting with members of Congress Wednesday and Thursday, urging them to support a proposed hike of the baseline wage to $10.10.

While raising the minimum wage has backing from President Obama and congressional Democrats, it's facing tough opposition from some corporate interests and conservatives. ... But others in the business world, including Costco (COST) president Craig Jelinek and Ben & Jerry's founders Ben...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/minimum-wage-increase_n_5028937.html

By Megan Woolhouse and Frank Olito
Boston Globe, March 14, 2014

... “Too many people are working hard and falling further behind,” said [US Labor Secretary Thomas E.] Perez in an interview with Boston Globe editors and reporters this week.

Perez was in Boston Wednesday and Thursday as part of a national, campaign-style tour to promote Obama’s proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 from $7.25 an hour. He met Thursday in Cambridge with [eight] small business owners who told him that they already pay more than minimum wage — up to $14 an hour —...

By Jordan Graham, Matt Stout
Boston Herald, March 14, 2014

A proposal unveiled by House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo yesterday to raise the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour by 2016 reignited a debate among business owners and leaders, with some saying government shouldn’t be setting the standard for employee pay.

“We don’t think it’s the role of government to push up the minimum wage,” said Chris Geehern, a spokesman for Associated Industries of Massachusetts, one of the state’s largest business groups. ...

But Paul Guzzi, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce president, said DeLeo has...

By Christine Kapperman
Natural Foods Merchandizer, March 14, 2014

Paying a living wage is good business, says independent natural retailer Michael Kanter, who played host to U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez and other Cambridge, Mass.-area businesspeople Thursday. Perez visited Cambridge Naturals as part of a two-day, Boston-area tour to advance President Obama's idea to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 an hour. ...

Read more

By Frank Olito
Boston Globe, March 13, 2014

CAMBRIDGE—US Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez on Thursday met with local business owners to further urge Congress to increase the federal minimum wage, arguing it would help companies attract and retain workers, and lead to greater productivity. ...

Perez spoke with [eight] local business owners who pay their workers more than minimum wages. They included the owners of Cambridge Naturals, Michael Kanter and Elizabeth Stagl, who pay their employees $11-$15 an hour.

In a roundtable discussion, the business owners told Perez that paying higher wages not only helps...

http://www.dol.gov/dol/media/photos/slideshows/20140313-BOSTON.htm#6

US Department of Labor Newsletter, March 13, 2014

... At health and wellness store Cambridge Naturals outside of Boston, on March 13, Secretary Perez attended a gathering of small business owners who are weighing in on the need to raise the wage, saying that more money in the hands of workers is good for their bottom lines and the economy as a whole. A higher entry-level wage reduces turnover and improves workers' attitudes and performance, which results in happier customers and better business, they told the secretary. "Every dollar we can invest in somebody comes...

WYPR/ NPR News Station, Baltimore, March 7, 2014

Gov. Martin O’Malley met with small business owners yesterday at Linemark, a printing company in Upper Marlboro. He was there to tout his plan to raise the state’s minimum wage and talk with business owners from around the state. Linemark and the rest of the companies represented at the event pay their workers above the state’s minimum wage.

WYPR’s Christopher Connelly sat down with the governor afterward to talk about the minimum wage, which the House of Delegates will give its final vote on the measure later today...

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....

By John Wagner
Washington Post, March 6, 2014

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said Thursday that he is disappointed that the House of Delegates dropped a provision from his minimum-wage bill that called for automatic increases based on inflation and said he will lobby the Senate to restore it. O’Malley’s bill, which faces a final vote in the House on Friday, would gradually raise Maryland’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 by 2017. The provision struck by the House would have made additional increases automatic after that. ...

His comments came during a broader roundtable...

Office of Governor Martin O'Malley, Release, March 6, 2014

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor O’Malley today toured the Linemark printing plant in Upper Marlboro, Md. and joined a group of business owners for a roundtable discussion to show their support for increasing Maryland’s minimum wage.

Governor O’Malley, as a part of his administration’s ongoing efforts to strengthen and grow Maryland’s middle class, has proposed raising the minimum wage as one of his top priorities for the 2014 legislative session. On Monday, his proposal continued to advance through the General Assembly with a favorable vote from the Economic Matters...

Associated Press (AP)/ CBS Baltimore, March 6, 2014

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gov. Martin O’Malley visited Upper Marlboro for a discussion with businesses owners who support a minimum wage increase. O’Malley also toured Linemark, a printing and Internet services company, Thursday morning. The roundtable discussion was held at the same location at 10:30 a.m. ...

Read more

By Heesun Wee, Editor, CNBC.com
CNBC, Feb 28, 2014

... The wage fight is vocal and contentious as ever. ...

A case for higher pay

Of course not everyone in the food business opposes higher wages. Proponents include executives at Zingerman's, a delicatessen and food business in Ann Arbor, Mich. The original deli opened about 30 years ago and has since expanded to eight related businesses, employing a permanent staff of more than 600 workers.

Zingerman's has driven sales by investing in employees through subsidized health care and above average wages. "We invest heavily in our staff with...

New York Times Editorial, Feb 27, 2014

Much of the discussion about the Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016 has rightly focused on the workers who will clearly benefit from the move. But what about businesses? How would higher wages affect them?

The answer — contrary to a great deal of reflexive hand-wringing by some conservative think tanks and politicians — is surprisingly positive. Scholarly studies and the experience of businesses themselves show that what companies lose when they pay more is often offset by lower turnover and...