BFMW In the News

By Mike Schneider
Associated Press (AP), Oct 31, 2020

ORLANDO — Joseph Gourgue wishes he could help out his children and grandchildren financially, but his $9 an hour wage as a wheelchair attendant at Orlando International Airport doesn’t let him. ...

Having workers earn a good wage makes them more productive and willing to stay, especially in an industry like the restaurant business, which has high turnover, said Diego Tosoni, a Miami restauranteur who supports Amendment 2.

Gulfshore Business, Business Daily, Oct 30, 2020

... FLORIDA BUSINESS COALITION BACKING AMENDMENT 2 GROWS TO MORE THAN 150 BUSINESSES

By Antonio Fins
Palm Beach Post, Oct. 30, 2020

... The [$15 minimum wage] amendment has picked up support from small-business owners, too.

By Laura Layden
Naples Daily News, Oct 29, 2020

A longtime fight for a $15 minimum wage in Florida will be decided Tuesday....

Tom Williams, the owner of Williams Agencies, a life insurance business with an office in Fort Myers, is for the change, which he said is sorely needed.

He's paid his starting workers at least $12 an hour for more than two years — and before that his lowest earners made $10, he said. And he has no qualms about raising his minimum hourly pay to $15 over the next few years. ... 

By Ashley Portero
South Florida Business Journal, Oct 29, 2020

Jennifer Todd knows what it’s like to barely make ends meet. She spent years earning $12 an hour working as a secretary before launching Pompano Beach-based LMS General Contractors, a construction and demolition company, in 2013. ...

“I want [my employees] to be able to come to work without worrying about how they’re going to get to and from the job, or how they’re going to buy groceries,” she said. “I’ve been on that side and I don’t want them in that position.”

Op-Ed By Fadi Dib, Owner, Cali's Beauty Supply

As a small business owner, I’m happy to see an amendment to raise Florida’s minimum wage on the ballot. ...

By Jonathan Bernstein
Bloomberg, Oct 26, 2020

t’s not just candidates on the ballot next Tuesday. As usual, there are a host of ballot measures - 120 statewide ones, plus various local questions... These are the top five I’m watching ...

Florida’s Amendment 2 : Raise the State Minimum Wage to $15

By Hanna Raskin
Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), Oct 26, 2020

...Has [Rep. Jim] Clyburn ever worked in a restaurant? Yes
First-ever favorite restaurant: Clyburn Cafe, a family owned and operated restaurant on West Liberty Street in Sumter. ...

Do you support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour?

By Caroline Glenn
Orlando Sentinel, Oct 23, 2020. Also Yahoo News

The debate over raising Florida’s minimum wage has largely pitted employers, who argue it would be too costly, against workers, who say they can’t live off the current $8.56 an hour. A newly formed coalition of Florida businesses that back Amendment 2 wants to change that narrative.

By Scott Fuhrman
Miami Herald, Oct 23, 2020

People have been at the heart of Lakewood's success since the beginning, when we sold fresh fruit and juices out of a small warehouse in Allapattah to hotels on Miami Beach. Now, we are the nation's largest family-owned and operated organic juice company. We're still following a people- centered business model.

By McKenna Schuler
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Oct 21, 2020

... Amendment 2: Vote Yes

Southwest Florida Business Today, Oct 19, 2020

As early voting begins across Florida today, business owners and executives in the growing Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition are supporting Amendment 2, which would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2026.

Op-Ed By Jared Meyers, Owner, Legacy Vacation Resorts and Salt Palm Development

People are at the center of the hospitality business. How we treat people matters every day — from our employees to our community to our guests. ...

By Daniel Figueroa IV
WMNF 88.5 (Tampa), Oct 14, 2020

A new poll from St. Leo University shows growing support for Amendment 2, to raise Florida’s minimum wage.

Tampa’s own Disco Dolls Studio recently signed on to join Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, but have believed in the cause for years.

By Gary Fineout
POLITICO Florida Playbook, Oct 13, 2020

... CAMPAIGN ROUNDUP — … A new coalition of more than 100 Florida business owners and executives calling itself Florida Business for a Fair Minimum Wage has signed on in support of Amendment 2, the proposed citizen initiative to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. ...