Letter to the Editor By Tim Frick
Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2017

Your editorial “Stifling growth in Illinois: Next step, raise the minimum wage higher than every border state’s” assumes business owners are opposed to a higher wage floor. Well, I’m a business owner, and I believe raising Illinois’ minimum wage to $15 by 2022 is smart business and smart policy to jump-start our economy now and strengthen it for the long term.

Businesses create more jobs when customers have more money to spend. Workers at one business are customers at another. We can’t grow...

Michael Lastoria: Restaurant chains hurt themselves by supporting current wage model

PMQ Pizza Magazine, April 2017

Michael Lastoria, founder of the hip and stylish &pizza chain, has taken a stand that won’t endear him to many of his fellow restaurant chain operators: He’s arguing for a higher national minimum wage. ... Lastoria believes higher wages boost employee retention and loyalty, saving money over the long term and reducing the need to constantly retrain new workers.

​Lastoria, who came to pizzeria management from a background in marketing and media services, told PMQ last year that the...

By Kate Taylor
Business Insider, April 20, 2017

While most fast-food companies are fighting to keep minimum wages low, one pizza chain's founder is going in the opposite direction. &pizza, a Washington, DC-based chain with 21 locations, is fighting for a $15 minimum wage — not only for the fast-casual pizza chain's own employees, but for all Americans.

"We've been on the forefront as one of the few restaurant chains that has put a stake in the ground and said that this is really important for us," CEO Michael Lastoria told Business Insider. "I think change...

King5 TV (Seattle)
By Danielle Leigh, April 18, 2017

Earth Friendly Products, which has a location in Lacey, celebrated 50 years in business on Tuesday.

The manufacturing company is the maker of ECOS, a line of eco-friendly cleaning products, which has been recognized by the EPA. The company started in Illinois in 1967 but expanded to Washington in 2010, largely to meet the growing demand for green cleaning products in the Northwest and Canada.

During Tuesday's 50th anniversary celebration, the company's CEO, Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, said a big factor in the company's success is how it...

By Michael Izzo
Daily Record (NJ), April 13, 2017

PARSIPPANY – An environmentally conscious business celebrated its “50 years of green” in the township Thursday, with Senator Robert Menendez stopping by the facility to address employees. Menendez (D-NJ) congratulated Earth Friendly Products, known for its ECOS line of products, on its 50th anniversary in Parsippany. ... What began as a passion project in a garage is now a global industry leader in 60 worldwide markets, embracing higher standards without charging higher prices, Menendez said. ...

State Senator Joseph Pennacchio (R-26) also congratulated the company on its anniversary.

Op-Ed By Charlie Crystle
Journal Tribune (ME), March 31, 2017 (Ran earlier in PA papers)

At the Lancaster Food Co. in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, our tagline is "Eat Better. For Good."

It's the "For Good" part I've been thinking a lot about lately as this caustic election year has come to an end.

Among voters, there is great support for raising the minimum wage across the political spectrum. Pennsylvania, and the federal government for that matter, both need to get with the times. A minimum wage of $7.25 an hour keeps people in poverty, and that's not...

By Dakarai Turner
ABC2 News Baltimore, March 24, 2017

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh announced she would veto a bill that would set the city's minimum wage at $15 an hour.

It wasn't well received at Baltimore Bicycle Works, where co-owner Josh Keogh said employees already make above the current state minimum wage. Keogh believes an increased wage would lead to increased profits as more people have money to spend.

"People don't have enough money to sustain themselves, and that's a crisis in the city," Keogh said. ...

Watch and Read More

By Lorraine Mirabella
Baltimore Sun, March 23, 2017

Supporters of Baltimore's $15 per hour minimum wage bill called on Mayor Catherine Pugh to deliver on her promise to support the higher wage ...

Josh Keogh, one of the owners of Baltimore Bicycle Works, said he believes his customers and future customers who get raises will have more money to spend at his Station North shop, which sells and repairs bicycles and accessories.

"It would be giving people who work in Baltimore something closer to a fair wage," Keogh said.

Because he employs fewer than 50 people —...

By Lorraine Mirabella
The Baltimore Sun, March 21, 2017

Some businesses applauded the council's move, saying it would help businesses, neighborhood and the economy as workers have more money to spend throughout the city.
"We've found that when you invest in your employees, they invest in your business," said Andrew Buerger, owner of yogurt drink maker B'More Organic...

By Luke Broadwater
The Baltimore Sun, March 20, 2017

Baltimore's City Council voted overwhelmingly Monday to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. ...

Op-Ed By Andrew Buerger, Founder, B'More Organic

As our company name, B’More Organic, will tell you, we’re invested in Baltimore’s success. That’s why I recently took time to testify before the Baltimore City Council in favor of gradually raising our city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. ...

Op-Ed By Pierce Powers, Owner, Lona's Lil Eats
My wife and I own a local restaurant, and we are very pleased that the Missouri Supreme Court ruling means that the city of St. Louis can finally implement the minimum wage increases passed in 2015. Raising the minimum wage is good business and good ethics. ...

By Dan Menefee
Maryland Reporter, March 7, 2017

The fight for a $15 minimum wage went before the House Economic Matters Committee on Tuesday — and not all businesses are opposed to this national push for higher pay. ...

By Sarah Polus
Washington Post, March 7, 2017

Muriel Bowser’s talents go beyond politics — on Monday night, the Washington mayor showed she can also mix up a mean cocktail. Developers Jim and Mai Abdo threw a party to celebrate the opening of their new Foggy Bottom micro-hotel, Hotel Hive, and a neighboring new location of &pizza. ...

And it was a thank you to &pizza. The D.C.-based pizzeria helped push Bowser’s fair-wage bill, which raised the District’s minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2016. ...

Read more

By Luke Broadwater
The Baltimore Sun, March 6, 2017

Baltimore's City Council, pushed by a group of freshmen members seeking dramatic changes, gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. ..."Today is a day I've waited for a long time," Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke said after the 12-3 vote. ...

But some area businesses backed the idea. Josh Keogh, the co-owner of Baltimore Bicycle Works, called paying a "fair wage" a "great investment" for his company.

"Gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 will give customers more...