By Shira Schoenberg
Springfield Republican/ MassLive.com, Dec. 24, 2018

The minimum wage in Massachusetts will increase to $12 an hour on Jan. 1. ... Gov. Charlie Baker in June signed the so-called “grand bargain,” a bill prompted by several proposed ballot questions that will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, phase out Sunday premium pay, establish a paid family and medical leave program and implement a permanent sales tax holiday one weekend a year. ...

Some business owners say they welcome the change. Dan Rosenberg, the founder of Real Pickles Cooperative in Greenfield, currently...

By William Westhoven
Daily Record (NJ), Dec. 12, 2018

As the Legislature debates a proposal to slowly raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour, Gov. Phil Murphy toured a local business that says starting employees at $17 per hour is a big part of their 30-year history of success.

"If people are going to show up, and be productive, and be committed and really deliver the highest-quality products, you need to make sure to pay a living wage," said Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, CEO of Earth Friendly Products.

"Make no doubt, it is a mindset that has built...

ROI-NJ, Dec 12, 2018

Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks doesn’t need to be convinced about the benefits of a $15 minimum wage for one simple reason: She pays more.

And she said she sees the benefits.

Vlahakis-Hanks, the CEO and president of Earth Friendly Products, a manufacturer that makes more than 200 green cleaning products at its Parsippany plant, said the company’s investment in its employees has been fundamental to its success for more than three decades.

Vlahakis-Hanks, speaking at an event with Gov. Phil Murphy, explained her support.

“We know from our own experience that raising...

TAPinto, December 12, 2018

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Mayor Michael Soriano joined Governor Murphy at Parsippany Based, Earth Friendly Products to express their support for a $15 minimum wage.  Earth Friendly Products has offered $17/hour as a minimum wage at their company for all employees since 2014.  The company was used as an example for how all business should be run. ...

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By John Reitmeyer
NJ Spotlight, Dec 12, 2018

Gov. Phil Murphy and Democratic leaders remain divided over key issues, including the number of workers who’d have to wait longer for the increase ...

The bill put forward by [Assembly Speaker Craig] Coughlin last week would also bring the minimum wage gradually to $15, with an initial hike to $9.50 on July 1, 2019. The rate would then go up to $11 on January 1, 2020 and be increased by $1.15 each subsequent year until it reached $15 in 2024.

But for seasonal workers, farmworkers, teenagers and the...

By Daniel J. Munoz
NJBIZ, Dec. 12, 2018

Gov. Phil Murphy said he's “open-minded” and confident about finding “common ground” as he and lawmakers hash out a bill that would raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Speaking Tuesday after a tour of the Earth Friendly Products factory in Parsippany, Murphy decried several aspects of a bill Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District, put on the table last week to raise the minimum wage. ...

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By Frank L. Cahill
Parsippany Focus, Dec 11, 2018

PARSIPPANY — Governor Phil Murphy today joined Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, the president and CEO of Earth Friendly Products®, maker of more than 200 ECOS® brand green cleaning products, at the company’s Parsippany manufacturing plant located at 50 Lackawanna Avenue, to support a $15.00 state minimum wage and demonstrate how the company’s investment in its employees is fundamental to its long-term business success. Earth Friendly Products, which has operated in New Jersey for 30 years, starts employees at $17.00 an hour and increased its investment in the state’s economy and...

By William Westhoven
Daily Record (NJ) Video Feature, Dec. 11, 2018

Gov. Phil Murphy tours a Parsippany business, Earth Friendly Products, that says starting employees at $17 per hour is a big part of their 30-year history of success.

WATCH VIDEO

By Michael Aron
NJTV News, December 11, 2018

Earth Friendly Products in Parsippany makes environmentally sound cleaning products like ECOS laundry detergent. Gov. Phil Murphy visited Tuesday because the company pays its workers a $17 minimum wage.

Murphy is negotiating a minimum wage bill with the Legislature. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has a bill that would phase in a $15 minimum wage by 2024. It would also exclude farmworkers, seasonal workers, teenagers under 18 and businesses under 10 employees. Those categories would be on a slower path to $15 in 2029.

Murphy said Friday that latter position...

WCBS News Radio 880, Dec 11, 2018

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (WCBS 880) — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday continued to push to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

The Democratic governor addressed the bill introduced by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, saying he does not support the length of time needed to increase New Jersey’s minimum. ...

The governor made his comments while touring Earth Friendly Products, an environmentally friendly cleaning products company with a plant in Parsippany.

The company pays its workers $17 an hour.

“Earth Friendly Products will be the model we...