Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has closed their tent flaps! A year ago Feld Entertainment, Inc. announced they would phase out the elephant acts in response to consumer demands; ticket sales plummeted. We have turned against what we perceive as unfair practices whether it’s animal living conditions (restaurants now use only cage-free eggs) or inhumane working conditions (we don’t import from countries that use with sweat shops or child labor). We are in the process of raising minimum wage to $15.00 per hour over the next few years.

Here, at Answer Page and Messaging, we stay well ahead of minimum wage in paying our employees. We also offer benefits and take care of our people with as much corporate responsibility as we can afford. We’d like to do more, but we must maintain a balance between what we can pay and what we can charge our customers. It becomes a catch 22; if we must pay our employees more, will our clients pay more for our services? This is not just a question for us but for most of our clients, also. Collectively we are going to find our customers can only afford so much. Fortunately, using our services will allow our customers to save significantly on their labor costs. Together, we will all find a way to keep our tent flaps open.