Much of that is because of the state itself.
Trust me, Yesterday I finally opened my computer store (3 days late). Just a small operation, my wife and myself. Yet still I had to spend around $1k just in permits and the like before I could open. And it will be quite a while before I can even hope to break even.
And if I did decide to hire somebody, it would cost me $10.50 an hour (plus). In an area where you can rent an apartment for less than $700 a month.
The biggest problem in smaller rural areas is that the wages are driven by cities like SF-LA-Sac. What is starvation wages there is barely affordable for a business up here. The grocery store across the street is run by the owner and her husband. Each takes turns running it, because they could not afford employees any more. I can not even afford employees, but have one on standby in the event I am deployed.
Myself, I have long been a supporter of local wage limits, not nation-state wide limits. What is good for New York is not good for Alabama. What is good for San Francisco is not good for Weeds. And with the state wage eventually going up to $15 an hour expect things to get worse. Because few businesses up here can afford that kind of wage and stay competitive.
I bet if they exempted "Jefferson" from the state minimum wages, a lot of businesses would move up here, especially for manufacturing. But when you are forced to pay higher wages state wide, why move? Especially since you may be grandfathered in for a great many things now, but a move might require you to conform to things like putting aside a huge fund to save the purple headed buck rat, which was last seen in the area in 1940.