State lawmakers’ approval of a measure to gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next five years has many business owners in Hampshire County nervous about their bottom line.
The bill, overwhelmingly supported by both branches of the Legislature on Wednesday, would gradually raise the minimum wage from the current $11 to $15 an hour by 2023. It also addresses paid leave and a reduction in the sales tax. Once signed by Gov. Charlie Baker, the bill would keep questions on those issues off the ballot this fall.
Valley business owners interviewed Thursday gave the idea mixed reviews, with some expressing a desire to pay their employees more but noting that the increase won’t be easy to absorb. Some said they foresee raising prices on items they sell and shaving employee hours, among other changes, to offset the increase.
Nuray Ozcelik, who owns Maple Farm Foods in Hadley, is conflicted on the issue. She said that while she would love to pay her employees — her “family,” she said — more money, she simply doesn’t have the resources.
Ozcelik said she won’t lay people off, but she would most likely shave hours and make other cuts to the business.
On the other hand, Ozcelik said she could also see the raise in minimum wage helping her business, as people have more money to spend.
“It is hard to tell what the future holds,” said Ozcelik.
Contractor Ben Anderson thinks the increase in the minimum wage will help his business because people will have more money to spend on home renovations.
Anderson, who already pays his employees “way above minimum wage,” also thinks it will increase the number of younger people who hire him.
“All the work I do is for people over 60 — my peers don’t have any money,” Anderson said.
Bob Burdick, owner of Harlow Luggage in Northampton, is less sure about the potential economic benefits of the pay increase for his business. He said he has not been immune to the troubles plaguing the retail industry, and he is not sure whether it is because of millennial spending habits changing and shopping online, or the minimum wage, which has seen a steady increase from $8 an hour in 2014 to $11 in 2018.
Burdick says he used to start his employees with more than minimum wage, but is no longer able to do that, now that minimum wage is at the $11 mark.
Kevin Sahagian, owner of Captain Jack’s Roadside Shack in Easthampton, also raised concerns about his ability to fairly pay his workers if the minimum wage goes up. While Sahagian believes that everyone should make more money, the proposal will impact his business.
Sahagian said he hires mostly unskilled laborers, besides a handful of line cooks, and starts them at minimum wage. The problem, Sahagian said, is that if the minimum wage is raised and he has to start paying unskilled workers $15 an hour, he would then also have to raise the salary of the skilled line cooks.
“What do you do?” he said.
He said his only solution to offset the rise in the minimum wage is to charge higher prices for his food.
“If everyone is getting paid $15 an hour, I got to charge 20 bucks for fish and chips,” Sahagian said.
Employees, however, welcome the change.
Laura Geoghegan Kellner of Northampton said that the raise is “absolutely critical.” Kellner, who worked at a large supermarket chain making minimum wage, said her job was not enough to support her, and the low wage was “a real problem.”
Kellner noted that minimum wage is not a living wage in a place like Hampshire County, where the household income is nearly $6,000 higher than the national average, according to the Census Bureau.
When asked about how the hike in the minimum wage might affect businesses, Kellner said she simply “didn’t care” about the profitability of companies who didn’t give their employees a livable wage.
Lee Cornell, who works at Guild Art Supply, an art shop in Northampton, said the proposed bump in the minimum wage “sounds pretty good to me.”
Cornell said she thinks the boost in the minimum wage will actually be good for business, as people will have more money to spend.
“If more people have higher wages, then more people will spend money,” Cornell said.
Most business owners don’t yet know how a $15 minimum wage would affect their business and many are torn over the issue.
“If I sound confused it’s because I am confused,” Burdick said of the topic.