Pioneer Millworks (Farmington, N.Y.), a reclaimed and sustainable wood manufacturer, will begin paying its minimum wage employees $15 dollars an hour on Sept. 4.
The new wage minimum amounts to a 54 percent increase over its current minimum wage of $9.70 in Farmington, and a 46 percent increase compared with the minimum wage of $10.25 at the company’s McMinnville, Ore., location. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.
The change will cost the Pioneer Millworks about 2 percent of its gross revenue, according to a statement from the company. The company expects that the costs will be offset by higher quality employees, better retention and more efficient work on the job site.
“We believe that if we support our people, give them the tools (which includes wages and benefits) to invest in their families and in their local neighborhoods, that this will pay the company back in the long-game,” said President Jonathan Orpin in a statement. “It’s the same thinking as investing in a $100,000 piece of equipment that we believe will pay us a return on investment in the years to come.”
