By John Smith
WAER/NPR (Syracuse U, NY), Jan 3, 2020

New York's minimum wage increased across the state this week to $11.80 an hour – outside of New York City - and one Ithaca business owner says she’s ok with it.  Jan Rhodes Norman owns Ithaca Made and Silk Oak clothing and has already been paying two full-time employees higher than the state’s minimum wage for years now. They earn $15.37 an hour. ...

Rhodes-Norman is part of a network, Businesses for a Fair Minimum Wage. She says it’s good when workers have more expendable income, which ultimately...

By Callum Borchers
WBUR, Jan 1, 2020

Massachusetts keeps chugging toward a $15 minimum wage. Next stop: $12.75. ...

"We do it because it's the right thing to do," said Rob Everts, co-CEO of Equal Exchange in West Bridgewater. "It's also in our own, enlightened self interest. Paying a good, strong wage cultivates loyalty. Turnover here is low, and that helps us at many levels."

Everts' company employs 150 people, some of whom pick and pack the fair-trade coffee that Equal Exchange sells all over the country. It's the kind of job that often pays minimum wage...

By Mike LaCrosse
WBZ TV/CBS, Jan 1, 2020

BOSTON (CBS) — The state’s minimum wage increased on New Year’s Day. It jumped from $12 per hour to $12.75. By 2023 it will be up to $15 per hour.

“Restaurants are, you know, one of the biggest employers in the country, but they’re also the biggest employers at the minimum wage level,” said restaurant owner Josh Lewin.

Lewin is co-founder of Juliet in Somerville where every employee starts out at $15 an hour. He’s a strong supporter of the minimum wage increase. ...

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By Charles Ashby
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Jan 1, 2020

Colorado will ... raise the minimum wage to at least $12 an hour starting today, but that’s not the only change in wage-related laws going into effect with the new year. ...

“It’s vital to remember that workers are also customers, and minimum wage increases boost the buying power of people living paycheck to paycheck,” said Holly Sklar, chief executive officer of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. “Minimum wage raises also pay off in lower employee turnover, reduced hiring and training costs, lower error...

By Hunter Field
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, December 31, 2019 

Arkansans earning the state's minimum wage will receive a $1,560 raise in 2020 as the state's bottom wage increases to $10 an hour under an initiated act passed in 2018. Under the voter-approved initiative, Arkansas businesses must pay employees no less than $10 an hour starting Wednesday -- a 75-cent increase from the current $9.25 per hour minimum wage. ... The 2020 wage increase is the second step of a three-year phase-in that will ultimately raise the Arkansas minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2021. ...

Little Rock...

... The minimum wage – stuck at $7.25/hour at the federal level since 2009 – will rise in 22 states, including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico and Washington. ... Expect more movement on pay in the coming months as states strive to help the lowest-paid workers better afford the soaring cost of housing, healthcare, and child care. Three additional states – Connecticut, Nevada and Oregon – and Washington, D.C., will boost theirs later in 2020, and a national effort is underway led by groups such as Business for a Fair Minimum Wage and the National Employment Law Project to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15/hour by the middle of the new decade.

By Michael L. Diamond
Asbury Park Press, Dec. 30, 2019

New Jersey's minimum wage for most businesses will rise to $11 an hour from $10  beginning Jan. 1 — Wednesday, the next step on its climb to $15 in 2024. ... The minimum wage hike started July 1 in a bid by Gov. Phil Murphy to jump-start the wages of low-paid workers in a state that has a high cost of living. One recent report found nearly 40% of New Jerseyans couldn't afford basic needs. ...

But some big New Jersey employers, including Amazon, already pay at least $15 an hour. And...

By L. Kim Tan
Boston Globe, Dec 29, 2019

What can you buy for 75 cents – the boost in Massachusetts’ minimum hourly wage that takes effect Wednesday? ... over a working day the difference between the 2019 minimum of $12 an hour and 2020’s $12.75 is enough to pay for a nutritious lunch.

Raising the minimum wage is a big deal.

People generally agree workers should be paid a decent wage, but what’s reasonable is subject to interpretation. A statutory minimum sets the standard, or at least the floor, and many employers support it. “Massachusetts is ringing in...

By Shira Schoenberg
Springfield Republican / MassLive, Dec 28, 2019

The Massachusetts minimum wage will increase from $12 to $12.75 an hour on Jan. 1, a step toward raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center estimates that 420,600 workers will get a raise under the new law, many of them working in food service and retail. ...

But some business owners say they want to pay their workers a living wage.

David Starr is founder and managing partner of Berkshire Natural in Northampton, which distributes healthy snacks to...

By Ron Johnson
KQTV2 (ABC), Dec 27, 2019

(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.) ...In 2020, Missouri’s minimum wage will rise from $8.60/hr to $ 9.45/hr. In downtown St. Joseph, many shared their opinion on the changes, they said the rise is a step in the right direction to balancing wages with the rising cost of living. ...

Those who own small businesses downtown also expressed support for the wage increase.

"We’re strong supporters of treating our employees fairly," Andrew Montee, owner Mokaska Coffee Co. said. "People who work hard should be paid fairly and accordingly,"

Montee added...

MetroWest Daily News (MA), Dec 27, 2019. Also in Milford Daily News and many other papers

Massachusetts will start the new year with a minimum wage raise along with 20 other states. The Massachusetts minimum increases to $12.75 on Jan. 1 and then increases by 75 cents a year to reach $15 in 2023. Area business leaders say that raising the minimum wage increases consumer buying power, fosters a more stable and productive workforce, and strengthens businesses and communities. These supporters include Megan Driscoll, founder of PharmaLogics Recruiting; Dan Rosenberg, founder of Real Pickles; Michael...

Ben Werschkul
Yahoo Finance, Dec 27, 2019

Twenty-one states are increasing their minimum wage for the new year with workers from Arizona to Vermont set to see an increase.

As Keith Mestrich, CEO of Amalgamated Bank and a fan of the wage hike noted on Yahoo Finance’s YFi PM, “It's going to be a really happy holiday for a lot of people around the country.” ...

As Amalgamated Bank’s Mestrich says, “The economy's been on fire now for a very, very long time. But many of the rewards have really gone to the people at...

Yahoo Finance, Dec 26, 2019

Over 20 states are gearing up to hike the raise minimum wage in 2020, but one bank is already ahead of the game. Amalgamated Bank CEO and President Keith Mestrich joins Yahoo Finance’s Heidi Chung and Brian Sozzi, along with New York Post Finance Reporter Thornton McEnery to discuss why the company has raised its minimum hourly wage on YFi PM.

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By John Unrein
Bake Magazine, Dec 26, 2019

Twenty-one states are kicking off the new year by raising their minimum wage, and certain business owners are speaking out in support. These business leaders say the increases taking effect on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 will boost consumer spending, reduce costly employee turnover, increase productivity and customer satisfaction, and strengthen local economies. ...

Thousands of business owners and executives have signed Business for a Fair Minimum Wage’s statements supporting state and federal increases because they believe a higher wage floor will increase consumer buying power, foster a more stable...

Gasconade County Republican, Dec 26, 2019

Missouri workers making minimum wage will see their pay increase 85 cents an hour to $9.45 beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

Hard-working Missourians will see another wage increase to ring in the new year, according to the Missouri Jobs with Justice organization noting that in 2018 voters from every corner of the state resoundingly voted yes on Proposition B to gradually increase Missouri’s minimum wage from $7.85 an hour to $12 an hour by 2023. ... Proposition B was endorsed by a diverse and bipartisan coalition of workers, faith leaders, elected officials, and...