CLEVELAND — Kayla Dial opened "KafeLA", a restaurant and community event space in Cleveland, four years ago.

What You Need To Know

  • Cleveland could be the first city in the U.S. to implement a Universal Basic Employment program (UBE), which would guarantee workers earn $50,000 a year by paying businesses who take part in the program to cover those wages

  • Those businesses would then be responsible for providing those workers with benefits

  • Kayla Dial, owner of KafeLA in Cleveland, said staffing is her biggest challenge and that she believes a program like UBE could help address the issue.

  • “For me to be able to help with transportation and health benefits, dental, medical, you know, massages, people who are on their feet all day working, you know, those are huge things," she said. "Child care, paid time off. Those are all the things I'd love to do. But, you know, as a small business owner, everything is just contingent upon me.”

“We’re more than just your neighborhood cafe, we’re literally a community hub,” Dial said.

Currently, Dial is able to pay her employees around $15 dollars an hour, but wishes she could pay in the $20-to-$30 dollar range. 

“The cost of living has gone up, the cost of food costs have gone up. So, you know, being a small business owner, it’s like I don’t have grants and loans and millions of dollars to play with,” Dial said, adding that she’s excited to see what a Universal Basic Employment Program (UBE) could do for businesses like hers.

Leaders in Cleveland are moving toward implementing a UBE pilot in the coming years.

UBE would guarantee workers earn $50,000 a year by paying businesses that take part in the program to cover those wages.

Businesses that take part in the program would then be responsible for providing workers with benefits.

In the next couple of years, leaders with UBE are hoping to partner with local businesses to launch a 3-year pilot, where they’ll pay the $50,000 for 100 workers at various businesses.

Dial says she’s very interested in taking part in the program.

“That would free up money for me to be able to help with transportation costs, health benefits, dental and others,” she said.

Jareed Robinson works in finance with a lot of business owners. He said they’re dealing with similar challenges.

“I don’t think they’re being malicious, inattentive, not wanting to pay workers,” Robinson said. “A lot of times it’s you know, there are a lot of other pressures that they’re experiencing, whether they have investors or lenders that they have to keep their costs at a certain rate.”

Beyond being able to do more for herself and her employees, Dial said she could do more for the community, too. Like providing wellness education, expanding the space for more events, doing back-to-school giveaways and more. 

“I’m just hopeful and grateful that it works out for not only me, but other people, to just grow the community because that’s really what it’s about: community and neighbors,” she said. “So, if you have a good community and a strong community, you know, it makes things better for everybody.”

UBE secured $600,000 from Cleveland City Council to develop the pilot program, but the total cost is $21 million. 

They’re working with United Way of Greater Cleveland to raise those funds and launch the pilot within the next two years.