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January 14, 2021
DENVER, COLORADO
A publication of
VOLUME 94 | ISSUE 10
Minimum wage rises in Denver $14.77 per hour is imposed in attempt to address cost of living BY DAVID SACHS DENVERITE.COM
Management at Somebody People, a Mediterranean-inspired, plant-forward restaurant located at 1165 S. Broadway in Denver, continues to operate as sustainably as possible by offering takeout orders in reusable tiffins or 100% compostable packaging. Pictured from left are co-owner and general manager Sam Maher, Chef Art Burnayevand and co-owner Tricia Maher. COURTESY PHOTO
Eatery turns to sustainable takeout Somebody People restaurant leads effort on reducing waste with reusable tiffins for to-go orders BY CHRISTY STEADMAN CSTEADMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
When owner Tricia Maher and general manager Sam Maher opened their Mediterranean-inspired, plant-forward restaurant called Somebody People, their goal was to operate as sustainably
as possible. “We always wanted to be a zerowaste restaurant, first and foremost,” said Sam Maher said. Somebody People, 1165 S. Broadway, opened in September 2019. Customers were encouraged to bring their own containers for their leftovers, but the restaurant had compostable containers for those who did not have their own. At the time, Somebody People didn’t do a lot of takeout. The COVID-19 pandemic “completely changed the way we operate,” Tricia Maher said.
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 4 | LIFE: PAGE 8 | CALENDAR: PAGE 9
SEE EATERY, P5
The tiffins available with takeout orders from Somebody People have three stackable compartments and are COURTESY PHOTO BY CHELSEA CHORPENNING reusable.
Since the beginning of the year, Denver business owners must pay workers at least $14.77 per hour. The new minimum wage is nearly $2 higher than it was in 2020. Denver is in the second year of its attempt to narrow the gap between what people are paid and what it costs to live in an increasingly expensive city. In a joint statement last year, Mayor Michael Hancock and City Councilmember Robin Kniech, the law’s co-sponsors, said they considered delaying the rate hike because of hardships that the pandemic has placed on local businesses. But they decided against asking the Denver City Council to stall things. “This was not an easy decision, but as our economy recovers — and we know it will — we don’t want to leave behind our minimum wage workers, who are often frontline workers in the pandemic and disproportionately women and people of color,” Hancock and Kniech stated. “Putting additional dollars into the hands of workers also provides an economic stimulus by increasing their ability to spend.” SEE WAGE, P3
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