By Lorie Konish
CNBC, June 24 2021

When Kristen Deptula and her husband bought the Canalside Inn in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, in October 2019, they had no idea the coming summer season at the shore town would mostly be a bust due to Covid-19.

The innkeepers were able to access federal funding through the Paycheck Protection Program to help keep them going.

Deptula also credits another decision — paying their staff a $15 per hour minimum wage — with helping the business transition through the pandemic. ...

‘Vital tool’ for recovery

groups like Business for a Fair...

By Melissa Steele
Cape Gazette, June 22, 2021

Increasing Delaware's minimum wage to $15 an hour is just a signature away from becoming law after passing the House on June 17. ...

Rehoboth Beach business owner Ryan Peters of RISE Fitness + Adventure said paying a $15 minimum wage is good business. “Employees have more pride in their work and are more invested in our company. We save money on costly turnover, and our dedicated staff keep our customers coming back,” he said in a statement released by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

Kristen Deptula...

Yahoo Finance, June 21, 2021

RAYGUN Owner Mike Draper and Soul Slice CEO Karter Louis join Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how the labor crunch is impacting small businesses - and how they are succeeding in hiring and retention.

WATCH and see transcript

By Cris Barrish
WHYY (NPR), June 18, 2021

Three years ago, Delaware lawmakers argued until morning on the final day of the General Assembly session before grudgingly approving an two-step increase in the minimum wage to $9.25. What a difference three years makes. ...

Alissa Barron-Menza of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage says the increases are overdue in Delaware.

“This is about helping ensure that not only workers are earning a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work, but that businesses have the customers who can afford their products and services,’’ she said. “Fair...

By Jacob Owens
Delaware Business Times, June 18, 2021

DOVER – The push to increase Delaware’s hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2025 cleared the state House of Representatives on Thursday and now heads to Gov. John Carney for his consideration. ...

Some Delaware small businesses have come out in support of the bill.

Canalside Inn owner Kristen Deptula said she has paid her employees $15 an hour since buying the Rehoboth Beach hotel in 2019.

“Investing in my employees is one of the best business decisions I’ve made,” Deptula said in a statement via ...

Op-Ed By Kristen Deptula, Owner, Canalside Inn

... Raising Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 will promote a more robust economic recovery from the pandemic for both working people and businesses. ....

By Matt Bittle
Delaware State News, June 17, 2021

DOVER — Legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 is now before Gov. John Carney. ... Senate Bill 15 would start by increasing the wage to $10.50 in 2022, followed by $11.75 in 2023 and $13.25 in 2024 before hitting $15 in 2025. ...

“Raising Delaware’s minimum wage will boost the economy and help businesses and communities thrive,” Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said in a statement. “Minimum wage increases go right back into the economy as workers can afford to...

Op-Ed By Ryan Peters, Owner, RISE Fitness + Adventure

... We have always paid above the minimum wage because we know that fair pay matters a lot in the success of our business and the lives of our employees. ....

By Olivia Montes
Delaware State News, June 17, 2021

Small businesses across the First State are preparing for the financial boost of the summer season — but business owner Courtney Sunborn is particularly excited about the passage of legislation to increase minimum wage.

“I really enjoy speaking on behalf of it as a small-business owner because it has proven to be an extremely valuable way of doing business for me,” said Ms. Sunborn, owner and founder of the natural cleaning service Ecolistic Cleaning in Lewes.

“It has helped my business grow and flourish because … it...

By DJ McAneny
WDEL News Radio, June 17, 2021

"It all just makes a difference in the wellbeing of people, and that changes who they are and what they can be for you," said Sarah Titus, co-owner of Wilmington's The Comic Book Shop. "I don't know. People are worth it."

Slated to appear before the state House Thursday, June 17, 2021, is Senate Bill 15, and act to gradually increase Delaware's minimum wage to $15 by 2025.  ...

But a small business owner like Titus, who already pays her employees above minimum wage, said owners...

By Eli Rosenberg
Washington Post, June 10, 2021

... Across the country, businesses in sectors such as food service and manufacturing that are trying to staff up have been reporting an obstacle to their success — a scarcity of workers interested in applying for low-wage positions. ...

The experience of 12 business operators interviewed by The Washington Post who raised their minimum wage in the last year points to another element of the equation: the central role that pay — specifically a $15-an-hour minimum starting wage — plays in attracting workers right now. ...

One of the...

By Michael Sainato
The Guardian, June 9, 2021

Some employers are upending the industry standards by paying their employees better and offering stronger benefits

...  &Pizza, a pizza chain in six states and Washington DC, raised wages at the start of the pandemic and expanded benefits such as providing Election Day as a paid day off. Owner Michael Lastoria said the chain has opened 11 new locations through the pandemic, and had no trouble in hiring new workers at the chain’s starting wages beginning at $16 an hour.

“Higher wages lead to greater consumer spending and...

By Linh Ta
Axios, June 7, 2021

All eyes will be on Iowa and other Republican-led states these next few months to see if an early exit from federal unemployment benefits truly nudges people back to work. ...

... Workers are also now in a position where they feel more empowered to choose jobs they genuinely like, said Mike Draper, owner of Raygun.

• "I think people are just assessing what they do during the day and how they want to be treated and what kind of environment they want to work in," Draper said. ...

Read more

By Paul Wiseman
Associated Press (AP), June 7, 2021

The U.S. economy is sparking confusion and whiplash almost as fast as it’s adding jobs. ...

Economists point mainly to what they call a short-term mismatch: Companies are posting job openings faster than applicants can respond. After all, many Americans are contending with considerable tumult at home — health issues related to COVID-19, child-care problems with schools slow to reopen, career uncertainty after many jobs permanently vanished over the past 15 months. ...

Some say the labor shortage is nothing that can’t be solved the old-fashioned way...

By Ron Southwick
Penn Live/Patriot News, May 31, 2021. Also Marietta Journal

...At a news conference in Lancaster last week, Wolf repeated a now-familiar pitch to raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 per hour for a decade. Pennsylvania’s minimum wage mirrors the federal government. ...

Peter Barber, president of Two Dudes Painting Company, which hosted the governor’s event, said businesses would see the benefits of paying better wages. He said his painters start at $14 per hour and go to $15 per hour after 90 days. When companies pay higher wages, they will...