Pete Turner, owner of the fast casual restaurant chain Illegal Pete’s, pledged in 2015 to lift the starting wage, before tips, of his employees from $9 an hour to $15 an hour by 2019, a move that seemed way out there at the time.

It was an experiment of sorts. Turner, a backer of the successful effort to raise the state minimum wage, wanted to prove restaurants could raise pay significantly and remain profitable. With the new year around the corner, the promise, which puts an extra $1,000 a month in the pockets of his workers, is one Turner said Illegal Pete’s will reach.

“I built our plan around a family of four with two working parents,” Turner said. “What does it take to support the average American family?”

Better-paid employees worked harder and stayed longer. Customers were happier, and same-store sales rose 16 percent. As other restaurants gripe about worker shortages, some severe enough to force closures, Illegal Pete’s has a turnover rate one-quarter that of its rivals and has no trouble filling the positions that do open up.

“There is so much competition for workers in this industry and across Denver,” Turner said. “We haven’t ever had an issue with finding workers.”

Colorado’s minimum wage will increase to $11.10 an hour and for those earning tips, and it will go up to $8.08 an hour at the start of the year, on its way to $12 an hour and $8.98 an hour respectively by 2020, per the course laid out in Amendment 20, which voters passed in 2016.

Increasingly, employers are having to stretch beyond the minimum wage. On Nov. 1, Amazon lifted the starting wage at all of its distribution facilities, which employ more than 2,000 people in Colorado, to $15 an hour. Target, the retailer, is also pushing to get to $15 an hour by 2020.

Even among restaurants, which were some of the most vocal opponents of the higher minimum wage, pay hikes are abundant, especially along the Front Range.

“I consistently hear that restaurants are paying back-of-the-house staff far above minimum wage — $14 to $15 an hour is not uncommon as a starting wage,” said Sonia Riggs, CEO and president of the Colorado Restaurant Association.

Depending on the restaurant, tipped employees can make from $22 to $40 an hour at the higher-end establishments in metro Denver, she said. And benefits are improving as workers become scarcer.

“Restaurant owners are trying multiple solutions to gain and maintain employees in this challenging labor market,” Riggs said.

The food and beverage industry employs about one in 11 workers in Colorado or about 232,000 people, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. What happens in that industry is important for overall pay trends in the state and nationwide.

Turner has long advocated that the restaurant industry pay a “living wage,” which he defines as one that provides an acceptable standard of living for housing, food, clothing, health care, education, savings and a vacation.

The Colorado Center on Law & Policy earlier this month released a report showing that more than a quarter of households in the state were struggling to earn enough income to meet basic living costs.

Beyond the $15 an hour come January, tipped employees, who work both the front and back of the restaurant at Illegal Pete’s, make $4.72 an hour in tips on average. Illegal Pete’s also provides medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with match and paid time off and paid sick leave. Employees starting at the company can expect to make $46,000 a year, including the value of benefits and food allowances.

The minimum wage increases have pushed up the entire pay scale, including for salaried workers. Turner said his next goal is to further improve the benefits his workers receive. Illegal Pete’s, best known for its big burritos, got its start on The Hill in Boulder in 1995. It has grown to 11 locations in Colorado and Arizona, four of which were added as the wage hikes were taking place.