what’ s working
“ No more community banks will start up,” he said.“ That’ s over.”
The same thing is happening to farmers and food processors, where new food tracking rules mean that even a single cherry must be traceable back to its tree of origin. Small operators see consolidation as the only way to comply with complex regulations.
minimum wage
Raising every employee’ s wages to $ 15 an hour— a 60 percent increase over the current minimum wage— would also require raising the wages of employees who are already at that level. This“ wage compression” effect makes a big minimum wage boost even more of a challenge for employers operating on a thin margin.
“ You can’ t expect a company’ s profit to just absorb that,” said an Aberdeen lumber yard operator.
The push to increase the minimum wage creates pressures for employers and removes the ability to use raises as incentive to improve as an employee.
“ I don’ t think anyone in this room would care if minimum wage was $ 15 an hour if they added that much value,” said a recruiter from a Moses Lake business management firm.
A training wage would help bring new workers into the job market, said a Montesano employer, allowing young workers to gain skills and move up to higher-value, higher-paid work.
workforce
Finding and keeping good workers is a growing struggle.
A Tri-Cities insurance company owner recounted three different times that he has spent six weeks and $ 10,000 to train a new employee only to have them quit and work for competitors.
Rural communities have a particularly difficult time recruiting and keeping highly skilled workers. Many have to be imported from out of state. The spouse also has to find a job, which doubles the difficulty of bringing these specialized workers to smaller towns.
There’ s also an unmet need for workers skilled in the trades. Public schools need a different track to help and train students who aren’ t bound for college.
“ There’ s a lot of good-paying, good career, rewarding jobs in the trades that don’ t require a four-year degree,” said one employer, citing an immediate need for more machinists in Chelan County.“ You don’ t have to go to college to be a success.”
And even finding good entry-level employees is difficult. Many new workers show up with very little understanding of the basics of on-the-job behavior.
A Yakima employer started giving applicants a simple math test, like dividing 60 by 5 in their heads. Less than half could pass this test of junior high-level math.
“ One employee in one agency, a clerk, can delay a project for several months simply by not getting to your permit in their stack. Opportunity is opportunity now. It may not be opportunity next year, or in five years.”
— Olympia manufacturer
One employer discussed another common problem:“ I can’ t find someone who will pass a drug test.”
a stronger future
The voices of small employers are diverse, reflecting the opportunities and challenges of Washington’ s many communities and regional economies.
AWB is compiling the results of the listening sessions into a report that will shape the Government Affairs team’ s small business agenda.
When lawmakers meet in 2017, AWB will make sure that the needs and perspective of small businesses are front and center.
Social media roundup of AWB’ s Small Business Listening Tour
storify. com / awbolympia / small-business-outreach-tour
26 association of washington business