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By Kyle Boaz
Springfield Business Journal, Aug 20, 2018

A national network of business owners and executives are pushing to increase minimum wages, and the group is gaining traction around Springfield. At least 48 local businesses have signed the pledge with Business for a Fair Minimum Wage to support Proposition B on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The ballot measure asks voters to raise Missouri’s minimum wage, currently $7.85 per hour, to $8.60 hourly in 2019 with an 85 cent raise each year until 2023, when it would reach $12 per hour.

“I think it’s reasonable – absolutely doable,” said Stick It In Your Ear owner Wes Nichols. “I’m behind that 100 percent.”

Nichols’ music store is among the local companies joining at least 350 total signers across the state. The businesses cross industries, from chiropractors, such as Jeffery Jones, to development company The Vecino Group, and restaurant Bambino’s Cafe to outdoor furniture retailer Maschino’s.

Stacy Jurado-Miller, owner and chief mission officer of The Vecino Group, said she signed the pledge because of the broader economic impact. 

“Our company’s success, like most businesses, is dependent on the people we hire,” she said via email. “A fair minimum wage is an essential part of ensuring a quality workforce. Employees can’t do their best work when they’re worried about paying for life’s most basic needs.”

According to organizers of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, the state’s full-time minimum wage results in earnings of $16,000 a year and “has less buying power than the minimum wage in the 1960s.” ...

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