Tribe unveils plans to create 2,100 jobs

The Spokane Tribe of Indians announced Friday plans to spend $130 million over the next few years developing a commercial complex that could include a hotel, casino and shopping center anchored by a big box retailer such as Wal-Mart or Home Depot.

Tribal members said the development of 145 acres just west of Airway Heights represents an important step toward self-sufficiency by diversifying economic holdings and creating jobs for some of the tribe’s 2,400 members.

“The time is way past due that we start working together with those around us. For a long time we have relied on ourselves, we haven’t reached out,” said Gerald Nicodemus, secretary of the tribal council, at a Friday morning groundbreaking ceremony. “This is the first step. This is our land. We’re coming back to it. We want to develop it. We want to diversify our economy, and we want to move forward for future generations.”

The three-phase project will begin with the opening this summer of a SPOKO Fuel station and convenience store, a new tribal-owned gas station chain. The tribe opened a SPOKO station near its Two Rivers Casino in Davenport and plans to open one next month in Wellpinit, where the tribe is based, said tribal Chairman Greg Abrahamson.

The tribe, which employs 333 people, expects to create 2,100 jobs generating an estimated $48 million in annual wages by the time the land is completely developed, according to a news release distributed Friday morning. Tribal representatives described the development as a themed retail village with a water feature running through it, representing the historic significance of the Spokane River.

The land is just outside Airway Heights’ western city limits. The tribe is talking to the city about providing water, sewer, police and fire services to the commercial complex, said Airway Heights Mayor Matt Peterson.

The Spokane Tribe and the state also are in the process of negotiating a gaming compact. Gov. Chris Gregoire sent a proposed compact back to the state Gambling Commission last fall because of concerns with some of its provisions. However, Abrahamson said Friday he hopes to complete the negotiations within the next three months.

Tribal casinos do not pay property taxes because they are built on Indian trust lands. However, the Northern Quest Casino, which the Kalispel Tribe of Indians opened in December 2000 on Airway Heights’ east side, pays the city $374,250 annually to help cover the additional strain on city services, said City Manager Chuck Freeman. The city receives an additional $65,000 through the state’s gaming compact with the Kalispels.

Calls for service to the police have gone up 71 percent since Northern Quest opened, necessitating the hiring of three police officers, Freeman said. The stipend from the Kalispels covered the cost of those positions, he said. On the positive side, he said, sales tax revenues are “through the roof.”

At full build-out of the Spokane Tribe’s development, the city expects 4,900 more cars a day on Highway 2, Freeman said, up from the 27,000 trips now made on that road every day.

Airway Heights hopes to commission an economic analysis of the impact from both developments. “Good, bad and ugly,” Freeman said. “It’s never been done.”

The Spokane Tribe acknowledges the increased demand on city services and has agreed to address those needs, Freeman said. “They’re not shying away from it at all,” he said.

Chairman Abrahamson and Jamie Sijohn, the Spokane Tribe’s public relations director, said the tribe is working out how the state’s gas tax will be applied at the SPOKO Fuel stations. Sijohn said even if a gas tax were not applied, taxes would be paid through the gas distributor.

Any non-tribal businesses operating on trust land still have to charge sales tax, said state Rep. John McCoy, who is also manager of the Tulalip Tribes’ 2,000-acre Quil Ceda Village on the state’s west side. The village includes a Wal-Mart, a Home Depot, a casino, a factory outlet mall, two banks and other commercial establishments. Tribal businesses operating on trust land can choose their own tax structure, he said. However, he said, the Tulalips have a policy of charging the same taxes in tribal businesses that non-tribal businesses in nearby Marysville do. The only difference, he said, is that revenue goes to the tribe.

“We don’t want to create an economic valley between us,” McCoy said. “We’re about building relationships.”

On Friday, the Spokane Tribe echoed those thoughts from afar, praising Airway Heights, the city of Spokane and Spokane County for their support in making the development a reality.

“As they acknowledge our government, we acknowledge their government also,” Abrahamson said.