Bill G. Smith, with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), an organization which represents small business owners said, “The overwhelming majority of small employers already pay more than the minimum wage. But there are some businesses that depend on entry-level, part-time labor and they are heavily concentrated in the small business sector.
“A mandatory increase in the minimum wage, like the proposed 37-percent increase that the US Senate may consider next week, would devastate small businesses,” continued Smith. “It would raise the cost of entry-level labor far beyond the rate of inflation without respect to sales or other expenses.
“Most small businesses, including most small family restaurants, operate on very narrow margins and it is completely unreasonable to expect that they could absorb such a massive increase. Since they can’t automatically increase their sales, and since they can’t automatically reduce their other expenses, they would be forced to raise prices, eliminate jobs, cut hours for their workers and find ways to automate certain functions in order to avoid hiring new people.
“Raising the minimum wage arbitrarily and without any connection to business conditions would result in lower employment and a slower economy. It would be harmful, therefore, to the very people about whom the advocates claim to care and the small businesses that every politician claims to support.”
Elias said he was “happy” to support the fast food strikes throughout the U.S. He did not address the County’s mounting pile of government regulations and opposition to Rosemont Mine which would create higher paying jobs.