A former bartender takes the helm of a wage-focused nonprofit.

by Jess McCuan . photo by Matt Rose

One of her group’s core principles: Minimum wage just doesn’t cut it. “It’s in no way a living wage almost anywhere in this country,” says Vicki Meath, a 35-year-old single mom who took the executive director spot at Asheville’s Just Economics in early August. The nonprofit says the federal $7-an-hour minimum doesn’t go far enough in Asheville, where high housing and other costs mean the “living wage” is actually around $9.85 an hour with benefits and $11.35 without.

Meath recently got a first-hand look at Asheville’s tough job market. She’s spent most of her adult life as a community organizer, working for nonprofits like the environment-oriented Western Colorado Congress and later, Cleveland Jobs With Justice. When she moved to Asheville in 2007, she wanted a temporary job that was flexible enough to give her time with her nine-year-old daughter. She ended up bartending at Tripps restaurant on the east edge of downtown for three years—much longer than she would have preferred—simply because professional jobs were unavailable. “I believe Asheville grew a little faster than the job market,” she says.

In the coming months, Just Economics, which coalesced in 2000 but didn’t have full-time staff until 2007, will continue to ramp up its Living Wage Employer Certification Program. The program literally gives Asheville-area small businesses a stamp of approval (the logo looks like something you’d see on a bag of fair-trade coffee) if they pay employees Asheville’s living wage or offer other benefits. “We vote with our dollars daily,” she says. “As consumers, we need to support and spend our money with businesses that are responsible.”

For more info, go to www.justeconomicswnc.org.