By Bente Kirkeland
91.5 KRCC, Southern Colorado's NPR Station, Oct 6, 2016
Colorado is among a handful of states where voters are being asked if the minimum wage should be increased. ...
Still, there are businesses that back the effort to increase the minimum wage in Colorado.
Kyle Garner is the CEO of Organic India USA. The Boulder-based company sells organic tea and herbal supplements to stores such as Sprouts, Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage.
"There's a lot of people looking and saying business can be a force for good and wages is one of the first steps in that journey," he said.
Garner said he already pays above the minimum. Warehouse jobs, for example, start at $14 an hour. He could even support the idea of minimum wage as high as $15 an hour.
"We keep costs down in terms of training employees because we have lower turnover," he said. "The cost of replacing employees every few months, burning through workers, not only is it bad for the culture of the organization, it's a huge cost impact. We also have more productive workers because they're happier."
Colorado's Amendment 70 is also supported by the president's Democratic administration. For instance, Labor Secretary Tom Perez recently swung through the state to campaign for it.
"Good businesses know how to adjust," he said. "Change is a constant in our industry." ...
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