From the Western Michigan Business Review (H/T Indianz):
Casinos to finance diversified economies
Thursday, December 06, 2007By Lynn Stevens
lynns@mbusinessreview.com
Both the Nottawaseppi Huron Band and the Gun Lake Tribe see the opening and continued success of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians’s Four Winds Casino as inspiration. They are sure that it’s only a matter of time until they, too, can open financial engines.
Tribes elsewhere that have had casinos for a while are starting businesses funded by casino revenues. Wine making, alternative energy and mobile construction services are among them.
All three western Michigan Potawatomi tribes say they want to follow suit.
“We’ve intended since the beginning to use the proceeds the Four Winds will provide that, should casinos become outlawed — it’s always in our mind there could be a day it’s no longer there — to provide services for our people and take care of our people for seven generations,” said Matthew Wesaw, vice chairman of the Pokagon Band.
The Pokagon Band has drawn an economic development ordinance and established an economic development board, but seats on the board have not been filled yet, Wesaw said. The band hopes to fill those and send the board to look at economic opportunities within the next 12 months.
The speed of those plans is believable, given this is the group that wanted and got a 144,000-square-foot casino and hotel built in New Buffalo Township in 14 months.
“There’s a variety of things available to us that may not be available to other tribes in the state,” Wesaw said. “No one’s as close to a major city and as close to the water as we are. That just opens opportunities for us that aren’t available to others.”
Some tribes may get involved in the fishing industry, but Wesaw didn’t think New Buffalo would be suited for commercial fishing. Shipping might be an alternative, he suggested.
Buying and creating businesses is a possibility, too, he said. And given the population density, expanding the casino’s hotel and retail space are definitely on the list.
“I don’t think there’s any question there’s going to be an expansion,” Wesaw said.
The Gun Lake Tribe is still waiting for a federal appeals court decision to allow land around Wayland to be taken into federal trust for a casino.
While they’re waiting, they’re looking into economic development possibilities, according to John Shagonaby, CEO of MBPI Inc., the economic development corporation of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians — the Gun Lake Tribe’s official name.
“It’s sound business practice to look to diversify,” said Shagonaby, Tribal Council treasurer and a Western Michigan University graduate in business administration, with a management major. “You want to do your business plan geared to what your people’s needs are.”
Getting the casino up and running must happen first, to finance further businesses, he said. The tribe may become the last one in Michigan to build a casino, he added.
“Our only goal right now is to get the casino up and operating,” Shagonaby said. “We’ve got our construction documents on the table. We’re done. We have several contractors identified, we’re ready to interview as soon as the land goes into trust.”
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