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Last updated on Friday, March 24, 2017
(DOWAGIAC, Mich.) - The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is pleased to announce that it made over $91,779,700 in additional economic investments to the region in 2016.
These investments do not include annual payments made directly to the State of Michigan as mandated by the Band's compact, job creation, and other ancillary benefits resulting from its government, Four Winds® Casinos®, and other ventures. The Pokagon Band has made approximately $339 million in additional investments to the economies of Michigan and Indiana over the last five years.
"As the original inhabitants of the Michiana region, we support local communities by making millions of dollars in investments every year," said John P. Warren, Chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. "These investments not only support area businesses through vendor payments, but also assist non-profit organizations, local governments, libraries, school districts, colleges, arts organizations, and students through direct donations from the Pokagon Fund and our three local revenue sharing boards."
In 2016, the Pokagon Band paid $38 million in payroll to Indiana residents, and $1.2 million in payroll taxes to Indiana; it paid nearly $53 million in payroll to Michigan residents and nearly $2 million in payroll taxes to the state of Michigan.
The tribe spent more than $78 million with 2,337 vendors in Michigan and Indiana, of which $53.7 million was spent with 1,782 vendors in Michigan and $24.3 million was spent with 555 vendors in Indiana. Additionally, the Pokagon Band provided $1.6 million to the Pokagon Fund, which is supported by electronic gaming revenue from the Pokagon Band's Four Winds New Buffalo®. Through revenue generated from its casino locations, the Pokagon Band also made contributions of $4.6 million to the New Buffalo Local Revenue Sharing Board, $854,731 to the Hartford Local Revenue Sharing Board, and $669,023 to the Dowagiac Area Local Revenue Sharing Board.
The Pokagon Band has made donations of $349,000 to Memorial Children's Hospital over the past five years through its sponsorship of the Four Winds Invitational. This includes a donation of $82,000 to Memorial Children's Hospital in 2016 to help fund a portable ultrasound for the hospital's MedFlight helicopter, and goggles allowing children to watch a movie or TV show during an MRI. Through its Four Winds Casinos, the Pokagon Band also donated $73,950 in gift cards and just over $200,000 in event support to various charitable causes, and continued its support of the South Bend Cubs with the naming rights agreement with Four Winds Field®. Four Winds Casinos also donated 3,500 meals or baskets of food to local organizations in Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan for those in need.
Mno-Bmadsen, the non-gaming investment enterprise of the Pokagon Band, also invested $2.5 million in 2016. Since forming in 2007, it has invested $16.8 million in acquisitions and the development of its subsidiaries. Last year, Mno-Bmadsen, acquired a controlling stake in WBK Engineering, LLC, an Illinois based civil engineering firm with offices in Illinois and Michigan. The Mno-Bmadsen Family of Companies employs 300 people and spent $25.3 million on area subcontract vendors.
About The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians' sovereignty was reaffirmed under legislation signed into law by President Clinton in September of 1994. The Pokagon Band is dedicated to providing community development initiatives such as housing, education, family services, medical care and cultural preservation for its more than 5,300 citizens. The Pokagon Band's ten county service area includes four counties in Southwestern Michigan and six in Northern Indiana. Its main administrative offices are located in Dowagiac, Mich., with a satellite office in South Bend, Ind. It opened Four Winds Casino Resort® in New Buffalo, Mich. in 2007, followed by Four Winds Hartford® in 2011 and Four Winds Dowagiac® in 2013. It owns and operates a variety of business via Mno-Bmadsen, the tribe's non-gaming investment enterprise. It broke ground in December 2016 on Four Winds South Bend®. More information is available at www.pokagonband-nsn.gov, www.fourwindscasino.com and www.mno-bmadsen.com.
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