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A worker at Six Span Dairy Queen in Elkhart takes customers order. (WSBT/Ted Land / February 13, 2013) |
President Obama said something during his State of the Union address that caught the attention of a lot of small business owners. He wants to increase the minimum wage to $9 an hour.
The current Indiana minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. In Michigan it’s $7.40.
“This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead,” the president said.
But some employers who hire and pay the current minimum wage say it could end up hurting business.
“I think $7.25 for a kid in high school right now is pretty good,” said Dave Smith, who owns the Six Span Dairy Queen in Elkhart.
Smith says he’d likely have to increase his menu prices and be more careful about who he hires.
“If we're increasing my costs, you have to start looking real hard at (whether) I afford to put another person on,” he said.
The owner of Ritter’s Frozen Custard in Mishawaka said he'd likely stop hiring 15, 16, and 17 year olds, and transition to an older, more experienced workforce.
