By Monica Stabile
Springfield Business Journal, July 5, 2017
The Illinois General Assembly’s approval last month of a measure to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour over a five-year period has drawn mixed reviews among the business community. ...
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national group comprised of business owners who support gradually raising the minimum wage to at least $12 per hour by [2020], says that workers who earn more money drive the economy by spending more, leading businesses to see a rise in consumer demand, resulting in job creation. ...
Supporters argue raising the minimum wage would lower the employee turnover rate, increase productivity and increase customer satisfaction.
“Workers at one business are customers at another,” said Tim Frick, owner of Mightybytes digital marketing company in Chicago. “We can’t grow the economy by paying wages that workers can’t live on and then bemoaning weak consumer demand.” ...