New Minimum Wage, New Business Challenge

No matter how you add it up, an extra $0.70 and hour is going to put a strain on some Mobile based businesses.

“Should I or should I not go up on my prices because I'm concerned that the public just can't afford anymore at this time?” rhetorically asks Master Cleaners President Mark Jones. “At the same time I'm being mandated to have to increase my payroll.” He says the minimum wage hike couldn't come at a worse time.

“If we could postpone this thing for maybe another year when we get into this economic recovery everyone's talking about,” says Jones. Some businesses owners say they are faced with the challenge of both meeting their bottom line and keeping their employees happy.

“It's a wonderful thing to think they can more easily pay their bills that's one hand, on the other hand you have to look at the consequences of this,” says Jones. Jones says no layoffs are planned, but a price increase may be. Some workers around Mobile say they're thankful for the boost.

“There are a lot of people out there struggling day to day and you need minimum wage to make it,” says Daycare teacher Kathy Broadus. She says she makes minimum wage at the Grace United Methodist Daycare and Learning Center in Tillman’s Corner. The new federal mandate means a greater expense to this local daycare.

“Personally it's hurting smaller businesses like ourselves because we're trying to keep our fees minimal,” says Director Anne Cowart. Several business owners I spoke with today said they had already boosted workers salary in anticipation of the minimum wage hike. They too were considering price increases but no one talked about layoffs at this time.