In July, Ben Wright, co-founder of Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, traveled to Washington DC to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging, where he advocated for competitive, integrated employment and the abolishment of sub-minimum wages for people with disabilities. The title of the hearing was “Supporting Economic Stability and Self-Sufficiency as Americans with Disabilities and Their Families Age.”
“There are some archaic laws on the books that allow employers to pay sub-minimum wages to employees with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Amy Wright, Ben’s wife and co-founder of Bitty & Beau’s, a Wilmington-based coffee shop that employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.