Worcester Business Journal

28 Worcester Business Journal • March 16, 2015 www.wbjournal.com A n overwhelming majority of voters in our poll for the week of March 2 endorsed recent actions by Wal-Mart and Framingham-based TJX Cos., the parent of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, to increase their floor wages to $9 an hour this year. What do you think of the move by major retailers Wal-Mart and TJX to raise their minimum pay levels to $9 an hour? Thumbs-up for stores' action on minimum wages Best Advertising Agency Best Web Design Firm Proud Winner of Two 2015 Best of Business Awards COMMENTS: Join the WBJ's LinkedIn discussion group by scanning the code to the left on your smartphone. To scan the code, you need the NeoReader. Visit get.neoreader.com to download it onto your phone. Want to participate in the conversation? T he Worcester Sharks are leaving town after this hockey season, leaving the region without a professional minor league sports franchise. Meanwhile, as the new owners of the Pawtucket Red Sox plan to move the team elsewhere — preferably to Providence — two Worcester city councilors want local officials to approach the PawSox's owners to bring the team here. Should they? Most voters in last week's poll said yes. Do you favor a move by Worcester officials to take a serious shot at recruiting the Pawtucket Red Sox to Central Massachusetts? Make a bid for the PawSox? Why not! COMMENTS: F L A S H P O L L T A L K B A C K I like it 60% "The market is driving this, which apparently is telling the retailers that they need to be competitive on wage offerings." "We already have a fun baseball team to watch: the Bravehearts. A Triple-A franchise would want a new stadium, which I don't think our city is ready to build." "I feel that Wal-Mart is trying to posture itself as being worker-friendly. However, we must admit it these times: $9 an hour is entry-level pay. It will not support a family." I don't like it 12% Yes 61% "It's upsetting to me to hear critical comments like 'The wage increase isn't enough.'" $9 is not enough 28% No 39% "Having a Red Sox farm team in Worcester would be a drawing card for many economic reasons." "Waste of time and effort." FILM TAX CREDIT: MORE QUIET ON THE SET? Sometimes we hit the jackpot with a LinkedIn discussion. After Gov. Charlie Baker's recent announcement that he would seek to repeal the state's film tax credit designed to entice more film production in Massachusetts, we ignited a spirited debate about how far government should go to incentivize a specific industry. "Tax breaks for specific industries are no more than subsidies. There is no reason for the government to be deciding which industry should get what tax break …" Jim Pond "By incentivizing filmmakers, the government … skillfully brought to the attention of this industry that our beautiful state … was worth capturing on film." Barbara Guertin "Unfortunately, we live in a culture where government subsidies (are) the way of life. … To eliminate the subsidy from one industry but leave it for others seems to be unfair." Greg Aldrich

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