Op-Ed By Bob Goodrich
Jefferson City News Tribune, Oct 2, 2018. Also in the Fulton Sun.

Movie theaters have been our family business since my father opened a single-screen theater in 1930 with a showing of “All Quiet on the Western Front.” I bought my father’s theater in 1967, and expanded Goodrich Quality Theaters to five states, including Capital 8 in Jefferson City. We couldn’t have done it without great employees and generations of moviegoers coming through our doors.

A lot has changed and improved in the 50 years since I’ve owned the business – from the wide range of  movies we now show to the sound, seats...

By Daniel J. Munoz
NJBIZ, October 2, 2018

The increase of a minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023 could inject $3.9 billion in the state’s economy through a rise of the consumption power for over 1 million residents, according to a report by the advocacy group New Jersey Policy Perspective.

NJPP’s report, unveiled Tuesday at a statehouse press conference in Trenton, said a higher minimum wage would result in lower employee turnover, thereby lowering the costs of hiring and training. A wage increase would also boost productivity and purchasing power for workers, according to the report.

[Brandon...

By Rich Sugg and Allison Kite
Kansas City Star, Oct 1, 2018

The Rieger restaurant owner Howard Hanna talks about Missouri minimum wage vote and his restaurant's protocol of paying well above the minimum wage.

WATCH VIDEO

By Allison Kite
Kansas City Star, Missouri Influencer Series, Oct 1, 2018

It’s been years since Desiree Saunders earned the minimum wage...but the child nutrition worker at Kansas City Public Schools said she constantly sees students whose families struggle because their parents earn Missouri’s minimum wage. ... Missouri’s minimum wage is $7.85 per hour, but an initiative petition on the November ballot would raise it to $12 per hour. ...

At The Rieger restaurant on Main Street, owner Howard Hanna said he pays his workers well above the minimum wage. To him, that makes good business sense because...

By Michael R. Wickline
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 26, 2018

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin said Tuesday they plan to vote against a proposed initiated act that would raise the state's minimum wage by $2.50 an hour to $11 an hour by 2021. These two Republicans signaled their opposition to Issue 5 on the Nov. 6 general election ballot in separate written statements, after supporters of the proposed ballot measure held a news conference Tuesday morning at Trio's restaurant in Little Rock as a kick-off event.

The proposed initiated act would raise the minimum...

By Katie Woodall
KAIT Region 8 News, Little Rock, September 25, 2018

A group hoping to increase the minimum wage by $2.50 an hour by 2021 kicked off an awareness campaign Tuesday. As Little Rock station KATV reports, Arkansans For A Fair Wage are fighting for Issue 5 to be put on the November ballot. ...

Capi Peck is a restaurant owner in Little Rock who supports Issue 5.

Peck already pays her employees above the minimum wage, and says it has paid off for her business.

“It’s been successful for me to pay my staff more...

By Marine Glisovic

KATV ABC 7, Little Rock, September 25, 2018

If approved by Arkansas voters, minimum wage earners could see another $2.50 an hour by 2021. A group hoping to increase the minimum wage kicked off an awareness campaign on Tuesday. While Arkansans For a Fair Wage hopes to educate voters, Issue 5 remains in legal limbo after a lawsuit was filed to remove the question from the November ballot. ... During Tuesday’s press conference, several supporters voiced their reasons as to why Arkansans should approve increasing the minimum wage to $11 an hour...

By Elliot Bauman
Missouri Business Alert, Sept 20, 2018

... Missourians will vote in November on Proposition B, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 by 2023. More than 400 Missouri businesses have come out in support of the wage hike, hoping increased labor costs will be offset by the economic benefits.

Leigh Lockhart, the owner of Main Squeeze Cafe in Columbia, is one of the business owners supporting an increased minimum wage. She doesn’t believe Proposition B, which would increase the wage floor by 85 cents per year until 2023, will impact her...

... Among the most impactful initiatives on the ballot statewide on November 6 is Proposition B, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 by 2023. The initiative would increase Missouri’s minimum wage from its current rate of $7.85 an hour to $8.60 next year, and then increase it gradually each year until it reaches $12 an hour in 2023. “The increase to $12 phases in gradually, giving low-paying businesses time to adjust and experience the benefits of a rising minimum wage – such as increased consumer spending, cost savings from lower employee turnover, increased productivity, and happier customers,” said Pam Hausner, owner of Big Vision Design in Kansas City and business campaign manager for Missouri Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. ...

By Will Schmitt
Springfield News-Leader, Sept. 19, 2018

A quarter of Greene County's workforce could see higher pay if a Nov. 6 ballot measure raising the minimum wage is approved...

More: Springfield businesses back $12 minimum wage in Missouri

A minimum wage hike will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot as Proposition B. It would gradually increase the state minimum wage from $7.85 per hour to $12 per hour by 2023. ...

A coalition of small businesses in Springfield and around Missouri has formed to advocate for the $12 minimum wage initiative. ...

Read more

Op-Ed By Bob Goodrich, Owner, Goodrich Quality Theaters
...A lot has changed and improved in the 50 years since I’ve owned the business ... One thing that has not changed enough, though, is the Missouri minimum wage. ...

St. Louis American, Editorial, Sept 6, 2018
...“The increase to $12 phases in gradually, giving low-paying businesses time to adjust and experience the benefits of a rising minimum wage – such as increased consumer spending, cost savings from lower employee turnover, increased productivity, and happier customers,” said Pam Hausner, owner of Big Vision Design in Kansas City and business campaign manager for Missouri Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

By Rudi Keller
Columbia Daily Tribune, Aug 25, 2018

It has been more than nine years since the last increase in the federal minimum wage, only the third time in 80 years since the Depression-era law was enacted that low-wage workers have waited that long for a raise. ... Supporters of Proposition B on the November ballot think Missourians are ready to act again to approve a series of increases that would set the rate at $12 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2023. ...

The raises included in Proposition B will reduce turnover, attract new workers...

By Tony Messenger
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aug 24, 2018

Growing up in the steel town of Granite City, Steve Crider’s career path seemed set. He was a machinist right out of high school, like his dad and his uncles and even his grandmother. ... Christmas of 1999 changed things. Crider got a home brewing kit. His life path took a curve.

Nineteen years later, his 2nd Shift Brewing, tucked into an industrial area south of Manchester Avenue on The Hill, is part of the hopping craft beer scene in St. Louis.

The company’s success...

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.