$10 an hour! It better be a warm fuzzy fleese you are planning on wrapping around people. I think $10.50 is the cutoff for poverty level in the USA? Correct me please folks if I'm wrong? Insurance is worth something however. At least you're offering that. A lot of companies don't. How much, however, is required of the employees to pay of that? 50 percent? Duluth is a wonderful city, but jobs? Ouch!

I'm a graphic designer and know many designers, including some looking for jobs, but $10/hr really!? Have you done any research as to what a designer is worth? It's actually offensive to see that. Especially how you have the position compared to a customer service rep. position.

This is going to start to get repetitive, but I agree with the majority here. Yes, times are tough and some people may jump at such an offer, but really, this just doesn't seem like a fair offer. With the word load you're proposing you need someone with an degree in graphic design + experience or something comparable in work experience. Anyone that has that is making more than you're offering. 

Also, any job that feels like I've been wrapped in a sweaty blanket just doesn't sound too appealing.

Hey, if the GD position is schedule flexible, why not hire a high school student? Often, they can work the photoshops good.

I generally walk away from negative comments but find myself oddly bemused by the griping about the $10 for the graphic design job. It is a job. In Duluth. For a Person who wants to be a Graphic Designer. It's a way to build experience and a portfolio. We are a small local company and are paying what we can currently afford for this position. We expect that position will turn over (and it has) as people gain experience and move on in their careers. And hey, find out more about us and the job before passing judgement. Better yet, do business with my company so that we can continue to grow and raise wages.

Could you give some more details though, like days of the week and FT or PT?

It is a very inviting way of putting a job out there. It makes me want to come and work for you. I may have someone interested also. Thanks for putting it out there. Money is important, but to love your job is half the battle.

I'm floored to see a $10 entry level position getting trashed, especially with all the benefits. But I suppose the entry on the price of food with the comments about a two person household spending $400-600 a month should have tipped me off... It's easy to judge from a position of privilege but it's not like that income is poverty level either (really guys, at least not in Duluth). I'm sure plenty of people would love a job like that.

Frankly, I'm 26, I've been employed steadily since I was 16 and I've never made more than $8 an hour (and that is only at the most recent job in the last year). For the most part, its been in the $6 and $7 range. Yet I've done well enough to buy my first home at 20 working such jobs (mortgage was cheaper than rent and it wasn't exactly a crummy house). My spouse had a better paying job but the reality is, we could have flipped burgers and still paid for everything. I know people that have bought homes in Duluth on 20K/year incomes and come to think of it, much less and with no trouble paying the bills. Could you do that in any part of the country? Of course not, but to trash a $10 an hour job around here is just silly. There's plenty of beloved local businesses that pay much less. 

Working for $10/hour, with any health insurance, retirement benefits, a flexible schedule and for a place that sounds cool (i.e., doesn't make you wake up dreading going into work every day) sounds like heaven. I'd apply for either position if I wasn't a month away from maternity leave.

We pay 50% of monthly health insurance, establish simple IRA (3% match), and you start first year with 10 paid days leave.

Thanks for the explanations of the benefits.  What is the monthly premium?  Are family members covered?

For Duluth, $10 an hour ain't that bad at all. I started out at that 8 years ago at the shop. I'm making significantly better than that now, but sometimes the job ain't about the money.

"It may be a great entry level job for a young, single, healthy, unemployed graphic designer, but most Duluthians do not fit that description."

It's also fair to say that Raven doesn't want "most Duluthians" applying.  They want someone with a thin portfolio and a 2-year degree or with a thin portfolio and a four-year degree who's just starting out.

Yeah, sometimes I can't believe they actually give me money to do what I do!

Don't get me wrong, the flow is nice ... makes living a little easier, but really, doing what you love has its own reward.

Sometimes you have to take shit jobs in order to move on up in the world. Especially in Duluth. My first job in this town paid $6.50/hr in 1994, but it directly led to my second job that paid twice that, and so on...

Congrats, Dave!