NORTH CANAAN — Each summer, Bob Riva looks forward to hiring a half dozen high school students to work the front counters at CA Lindell ACE Hardware.
“I like to bring in those kids from the high school and train them and work with them. They are very cheerful,” as they gain entry-level skills and bring their enthusiasm to the job and to customers, said the Canaan business owner.
But the 4.2% increase in the minimum wage, from $15.69 to $16.35, that went into effect Jan. 1, has reduced the number of summer jobs Riva will be able to offer to students this year.
“We end up getting a lot of kids, but does it make sense to pay someone in high school that large a minimum wage? It comes down to making decisions that you never had to make before,” said Riva.
“You get a little pickier and end up scrutinizing the people you are paying minimum wage to. We want our employees to make a good living, but the kids don’t have a house and are still in school. And for this new minimum wage right now, they’d better be moving, they’d better be doing a good job,” said Riva.
Five minimum wage hikes in four years
In 2019, Gov. Ned Lamont signed Public Act 19-4, which implemented five minimum wage increases over four years’ time, followed by subsequent adjustments tied to the percentage change in the federal Employment Cost Index (ECI).
In making the announcement, Lamont said the new law “ensures that as the economy grows, the wages of low-income workers can grow with it. This is a fair, modest adjustment for workers who will invest their earnings right back into our economy and support local businesses in their communities.”
According to Connecticut Labor Commissioner Dante Bartolomeo, the ECI increased by 4.2% over the 12-month period ending on June 30, 2024, accounting for the 66-cent hourly wage hike on Jan. 1.
“Minimum wage increases help ensure that no Connecticut worker gets left behind,” Bartolomeo said.
From 2022 to 2023, average salaries in Connecticut rose 3.1%, with the state having the fifth-highest average wage in the country, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA).
State officials estimate 10% of the state’s workforce, about 169,000 workers, earn the minimum wage.
More harm than good?
Several Northwest Corner employers described the state’s method for doling out wage increases as burdensome and broken, and that they have little choice but to shift their hiring focus to employees whose productivity levels match the higher minimum wage.
As a result, the most vulnerable, especially those who may lack on-the-job training and have a lower literacy or disability and are most in need of employment, training and experience, will be negatively impacted.
Others are at risk of losing, or have lost important benefits such as health insurance, food and energy assistance, or even affordable housing because their new raises push them over the maximum income limits to qualify for benefits.
Carolyn Piccirelli, founder of Honeychurch Home in Salisbury, said although her business is not affected by the minimum wage hike as all employees are paid above that level, she supports efforts to increase wages.
However, she said she is aware of people who are being bumped off assistance programs because the latest minimum wage hike put them over the maximum income limit.
“What they have to do is find a work-around like reducing their hours” to maintain assistance, said Piccirelli. “As a result, employers have to hire more people.”
Piccirelli, who is expanding and relocating her business to Lenox, Mass., said she is in favor of a higher minimum wage, even though she feels lawmakers were oblivious to the negative impact the raises would have on small businesses.
“I don’t think any minimum wage is enough, frankly,” she noted. “It’s very common for the government to do things and not consider the fallout. The affected small businesses have to be part of the solution,” she said.
Lindell’s Riva had this warning for Connecticut lawmakers: “You are putting a lot of businesses out of business,” as California did when it raised its hourly minimum wage to $20. “Now you have many businesses that can’t make the next payroll and the economy hasn’t been strong.”
A better solution, said Riva, would have been to limit the wage increases only to workers age 21 and older and reserve a lower minimum wage for those ages 16 to 21, giving that younger age group time to gain experience and hone their work skills.
Minimum Wage Threat
According to the nonprofit Employment Policies Institute (EPI), which focuses on issues that affect entry level employment, research shows that raising the minimum wage hurts the least-skilled and least-experienced job seekers the most, “while having little to no effect on poverty rates.”
The EPI noted that a new survey conducted by CorCom Inc., a data management firm, and Carnegie Mellon University asked economists about their reaction to a $15 minimum wage. “It finds that 62 percent of U.S.-based economists oppose a $15 federal minimum wage,” EPI reported.
Three-quarters of respondents (75%) said that a $15 federal minimum wage “would have harmful effects on youth employment levels” and 81 percent of respondents said that a $15 minimum wage would make it more difficult for small businesses to stay in business.
Additionally, research conducted by economists from Miami and Trinity University found that as many as 1.2 million jobs could be lost with a $17 minimum wage
“Sixty-two percent will be among women, and 63 percent will be lost among 16- to 24- year-olds,” EPI reported.
Ryan Craig, owner of the Berkshire Country Store in Norfolk, said the rising minimum wage has negatively impacted his business, as well as some of his workers. Debra A. Aleksinas
‘I can’t be a first job anymore’
On a recent weekday in Norfolk’s quaint business center, Berkshire Country Store owner Ryan Craig greeted vendors, met with customers and assisted his bare-bones staff.
During a quick break, he recalled not so long ago when he had two store locations and 18 employees, 12 of them in Norfolk and a half-dozen in Canaan, which has since closed. Now he has six employees working full- and part-time.
Just days earlier, Berkshire Country Store marked its eighth anniversary, but its owner said he fears for his business’ future, as well as other small businesses in Northwest Corner, with no end in sight to the wage hikes.
“I think small towns are going to be in a world of hurt,” Craig predicted.
“When we opened the minimum wage was less than $10 an hour. That kind of stayed put for a while, and now it is $16.35,” he noted. To survive, the entrepreneur has raised costs and reduced hours of operation and staff. But it’s still a struggle, he said.
Like Riva in Canaan, Craig said he has stopped hiring high school students because “I can’t be a first job anymore.”
The Norfolk business owner said he is not against better pay for workers. He just thinks the system for handing out the raises is broken.
“Look at the cost of living here, and the struggle to find employees. They can’t afford to live in Norfolk,” said Craig, whose current staff commutes from Winsted. “And, soon, they may not be able to afford to live in Winsted.”
“If we are giving them a raise and they do better, that would be one thing. But because of the rising minimum wage, some of them are getting pulled off state benefits. So for that $1 an hour raise, they are now paying $500 a month for insurance, and also the deductibles.”
Craig said he feels like workers are being set up to fail.
“I feel like I’m doing something for the employees that is not helping them. And if it’s not helping me, then who is it helping?
Join The Lakeville Journal for a community celebration, featuring local nonprofits and businesses, festive family fun, great food, and engaging activities.
Danny Tieger | 11am - 12pm
John Keilty/Johnny Rox | 1-3pm
Face Painting
Scavenger Hunt
Balloon Animals
21st Century Fund for HVRHS
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Community Health & Wellness Center
Congregational Church of Salisbury, UCC
The Corner Food Pantry
Crescendo
Housatonic Child Care Center
Noble Horizons
Nuvance Health (Sharon Hospital)
Project SAGE
NW Connecticut Community Foundation (Women & Girls Fund)
Salisbury Association
Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission
Salisbury Housing Committee
Salisbury Housing Trust
The Salisbury Forum
Western Connecticut Area Agency on Aging
Cousins Maine Lobster food truck
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Karina Powers teaches traditional dances from Mexico in Millbrook.
Powers received a master’s degree in Mexican folklore dance from Escuela de la Danza in Baja California, Mexico. Since moving to the United States, she has built a career in performance and teaching. She has not only served as a dance director and performed as a professional vernacular music singer in California, but she has also worked towards her Doctorate, which she will receive in October.
As the founder of her company, Powers works tirelessly to make sure her dancers have everything they need, including costumes, proper flooring, music and a space to practice. Her husband built wooden panels, called tarimas, for students to dance on with their folklórico shoes. Millbrook Mayor Peter F. Doro allows Powers and her group to practice in Millbrook Hall, where she brings the tarimas to every practice along with costumes and proper footwear.
Powers dreams of owning her own studio where she can practice with her group, offer more classes, store costumes and create a space for her dancers to do their hair and makeup before performances. She said she hopes people learn about her classes so her company can grow and she can teach dances from a wider range of Mexican states while having greater access to traditional dress.
As a single mother and professor, Powers’ mother, Carmen Méndez, put her children in dance classes and signed them up for track and field, always keeping them goal- and career-oriented. She helped Powers with her company by creating all of the costumes her dancers wear in their performances. After her mother’s death in 2021, Powers said she has dedicated herself to carrying forward the passion, work ethic and love of dance her mother instilled in her.
“I miss her terribly, and I’m here because of her,” Powers said. “That’s why I want to do this, because of her. She gave me a lot, with the costumes, with her support. I do it for my mom.”
Karina Powers and her students practice in Millbrook Hall.Lucia Iandolo
Dancers in Powers’ group are dedicated to learning the art of dance from different states in Mexico on Tuesday and Friday nights at Millbrook Hall. They travel from many different places in New York to participate, with some dancers traveling more than an hour to make it to rehearsal each week.
“It’s a lot of work, but they learn it. I believe they love it, and it’s a way to come together, to do something good, to do something healthy, and to have people around you who appreciate this kind of art,“ Powers said.
Powers has studied with professor Eloy Jiménez Figueroa since childhood and said his mentorship inspired her to become the teacher she is today. She added that while she may not be the best teacher, she learned from the best.
While living in California, Powers taught elementary, high school and college students, as well as adults. She was recruited to teach traditional Mexican folkloric dance because of the region’s large Mexican community. Today, she encourages people of all backgrounds to explore the rich traditions of Mexican dance.
“This type of dance is not only for people from Mexico,” Powers said. “This is an art and the arts unite nations.”
Powers hopes to continue sharing that art in Millbrook and one day teach in the Millbrook Central School District. Powers and her group will perform at the Millbrook Library on Nov. 21, presenting traditional Mexican dances and inviting audience members to participate.
As a professor, dancer and singer, Powers stays grounded by believing in something greater than herself. She says that praying and putting herself in the hands of God has helped anchor her. She hopes to teach and dance for as long as her body allows.
“My mom, for me, is an angel. I put myself in her hands, and I have faith,” Powers said. “I have faith that God, or something good, is going to be there for the group and for myself.”
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