By Ryan Hoffman
Citizen Telegram. Also Aspen Times, Oct 14, 2016
Feelings toward a constitutional amendment that would raise Colorado’s minimum wage to $12 per hour by 2020 vary depending on where you are on the Western Slope. ...
Fore nearly 13 years Laurie Raymond has been a small business owner, running High Tails Dog & Cat Outfitters Inc. in Glenwood Springs.
During that time, Raymond said she has made it a point to try to pay her few employees as much as she can while ensuring the business remains profitable.
“I’ve never paid my lowest-paid employees minimum wage,” she said.
Currently Raymond has five employees, one of whom works on commission. Two of her employees are high school students, and one makes $10 per hour while the other makes $10.75. Her other two employees get a wage that comes out to about $15 per hour, which is slightly more than what Raymond pays herself.
“Philosophically I want to pay people as well as I can,” said Raymond, who supports Amendment 70. While the minimum wage increase will likely fall short of solving what Raymond called the deepening class stratification taking place in the region and Colorado, it could be a first step. .... “Even Henry Ford … realized that it didn’t make sense to have a workforce that couldn’t afford the product he was selling.” ...
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