Huron Nottawaseppi Band

Nottawaseppi Huron Pays Back Loan Early

Kate Fort

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Alex Nixon

EMMETT TOWNSHIP — The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, the Native American tribe that owns FireKeepers Casino, said today it paid off a $35 million loan four years earlier than its due date.

According to a press release, the loan was used to purchase FireKeepers’ 2,680 slot machines.

The tribe paid off the loan on Aug. 12, a year after the casino in Emmett Township opened its doors. The casino is located on Interstate 94, just east of Battle Creek.

“Paying off this loan four years in advance attests to the success of FireKeepers Casino,” Tribal Chairperson Homer A. Mandoka said in the release. “The Tribal Council accomplished this on behalf of its 1,146 tribal members.”

The $300 million casino employs 1,500 workers. It’s owned by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, but managed by a separate company, Gaming Entertainment Michigan LLC. Gaming Entertainment is a joint venture between Full House Resorts Inc.  and RAM Entertainment LLC, a privately owned investment company.

The tribe also contributed four percent of the casino’s slot revenues to the State of Michigan.

Huron Nottawaseppi Gaming News — Profile of Laura Spurr

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Western Michigan Business Review:

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi is planning to open its FireKeepers Casino east of Battle Creek next summer.

The process of getting the land into federal trust took years, and Laura Spurr was the calm public voice of the tribe throughout. She represented the tribe with a killer sense of humor and an encyclopedic command of data.

And she can’t be bullied.

What does a tribal chairman do?

“It’s kind of similar to city or township government. We have a five-member council, all elected by the tribe, then the council selects the chairman.

“Not all tribes do it that way. Some elect the chairman directly.”

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Huron Nottawaseppi Band Casino Construction News

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

Despite a lack of construction activity, the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians says its casino near Battle Creek, Michigan, will open in June 2009.

The tribe was supposed to start work on the FireKeepers Casino this spring. But spokesperson Donna Halinski promises that construction will begin before the summer. “We haven’t set a date yet,” Halinski told The Battle Creek Enquirer. “There are still some internal things going on. … The design work is all done. … Everything’s in place.” The tribe’s land-into-trust application for the casino was held up in court for eight years. Get the Story:
Casino project awaits start (The Battle Creek Enquirer 4/28 )

Michigan Potawatomi Gaming News

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

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.

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