By Lew Prince, Co-Owner and CEO, Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis
USA Today, 2/9/07

Todd Stottlemyer, president and CEO of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), reveals total ignorance of business when he claims raising the minimum wage to $7.25 by 2009 would force business owners to jack up prices by 40% ("Don't kill the golden goose," Opposing view, Thursday).

In my small business, costs include insurance, utilities, taxes, rent, equipment, inventory, maintenance, advertising and outside accounting, banking, legal services and more. Labor is only one part of a complicated cost picture.

Very few small businesses pay every employee minimum wage, so the hike affects only a small percentage of employees for the vast majority of businesses. Even if a business paid every employee the legal minimum, this raise would increase overall costs by a small fraction of what Stottlemyer claims.

And he ignores the benefits of paying decent wages, such as reduced costs and higher revenues produced by lower turnover, higher productivity and increased consumer buying power. Such ignorance is not surprising to those who follow NFIB policy positions.

Business owners should look at the agendas of organizations such as the American Independent Business Alliance, which actually serves independent business people, not wealthy investors and corporate elites.