Almost as soon as the state House passed a bill which would raise Pennsylvania’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, an organization called the Employment Policies Institute began reaching out to members of the media in Pennsylvania to share its view.

One press release included a quote attributed to Rebekah Paxton, identified as the group’s research director.

“Today’s vote ignores the well-documented harmful consequences of wage hikes by economists,” it read. “Not only would this proposal slash up to 86,000 jobs, it would also worsen inflation for Pennsylvania workers and residents. Economists have found the ‘Fight for $15’ backfired on workers — especially those just entering the workforce. Pennsylvania will not be immune to these consequences playing out across the country.”

But the group, which described itself as “a nonprofit research organization,” may not be what it seems.

According to its website, the Employment Policies Institute shares an Arlington, Virginia, address — down to the suite number — with the public relations firm Berman and Company, where Paxton is listed as vice president for data analytics.

That firm’s slogan is “change the debate.”

It was founded and is named for a former lobbyist named Richard Berman, who has been nicknamed “Dr. Evil” by his opponents. Berman himself retired at the end of 2022, but the firm continues to advertise on the reputation created under him.

Their website features select quotes from critical press coverage. One from a 2011 “60 Minutes” story calls them the food and beverage industry’s “weapon of mass destruction.”

Berman and Company has long been known for its pugnacious style, often assailing opponents of its clients in eye-catching ads. The group has also created dozens of websites attacking proponents of things like unions, environmentalism, animal rights and a higher minimum wage. At the same time, a series of nonprofits run by associates of the firm help distribute its messages to the media.

According to the Employment Policies Institute’s most recent 990, a document all nonprofits file with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service annually, the tax-exempt non-profit paid nearly $652,000 to the for-profit company “Richard Berman and Co” in 2024 for services they describe as management, advertising and research.

That was the equivalent of nearly their entire annual revenue that year, $692,000, and roughly 85% of their total expenditures, which they list at roughly $816,000.

The IRS document lists Michael Saltsman as the president of the Employment Policies Institute. According to Berman and Company’s website, Saltsman also serves as that firm’s owner and partner.

Berman and Company has similar links to other nonprofit groups such as the Center for Organizational Research and Education, the Center for Accountability in Science, and the Center for Union Facts.

Brooke McCollum, a spokesperson for the Employment Policies Institute, said the organization’s relation to the for-profit firm is “not unlike hundreds of other non-profit organizations across the country.”

“The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) was founded more than 35 years ago, as a research non-profit to study the consequences of wage and labor mandates. EPI is led by an independent board of accomplished professionals. Berman and Company serves as EPI’s management firm,” she said. “As is common with association management firms, Berman partner Michael Saltsman serves as the nonprofit’s Executive Director, which he frequently discloses publicly.”

While Berman and Company does not disclose their client list, the Washington, D.C. based advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says they’ve historically represented major companies in the food, meat, beverage and restaurant chain sectors.

The firm’s associated nonprofits have waged public relations campaigns that align with those industries’ interests, often funding or producing research and analysis they then publicize. They have also sought to undermine perceived opponents.

McCollum said, “as a nonprofit, EPI does not have ‘clients,’ but rather receives donations from foundations, businesses, and individuals. Like most nonprofits, we don’t disclose individual donors.”

Berman and Company, along with associated nonprofits have run a number of eye-catching campaigns. They raised questions about the funding of animal rights groups like the Humane Society, campaigned against Obama administration energy rules intended to minimize environmental damage, feuded with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, railed against fake meat products which threatened to disrupt the cattle industry, and have painted various unions in a negative light. They’ve also run ad and editorial campaigns in other states considering a raise to their minimum wage.

Now, they’re campaigning against a minimum wage hike in Pennsylvania.

The latest bill to increase the wage in the commonwealth, sponsored by state Rep. Jason Dawkins (D-Philadelphia), is the third in four years to pass through theHouse. But previous efforts have failed in the Republican-controlled Senate, and the latest is likely to face an uphill battle as well.

The Employment Policies Institute published content similarly critical of Pennsylvania’s efforts after a 2023 bill passed the House, and its arguments echo those of critics in the Capitol

The group warns raising the minimum wage would have a particularly negative impact on tipped workers, and eliminate jobs — especially those of young, entry level workers between 16 and 24 years old.

A spokesperson for House Minority Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford), one of several lawmakers who made similar arguments against the most recent bill on the House floor, said he had never heard of the Employment Policies Institute.

Advocates for raising the minimum wage argue that $7.25 an hour is unsustainable, and leading to some Pennsylvanians needing to work multiple jobs.

“Pennsylvania should be leading the charge of making sure that everyone has the decency and dignity to go home with a paycheck that is not embarrassing,” Dawkins said on Wednesday.

The minimum wage has been at $7.25 since 2009, when the federal government raised the rate nationwide. The last time lawmakers in the commonwealth passed a bill to raise it was in 2006, when it was bumped to $7.15 an hour.

Each of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states has a minimum wage higher than $7.25, the federal minimum. The lowest is West Virginia’s, at $8.25 an hour. New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland all are at $15 an hour.

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