Business & Economic Impact
Employment
Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley alone employ more than 2,800 people, of which approximately 91% are non-Indians. Most of the casinos’ employees are residents of rural areas, where steady jobs with good wages and benefits were once in short supply. Today the casinos’ insurance plans cover more than 3,500 Associates and family members.
In addition, the Band’s tribal government employs approximately 640 people full-time, including 102 people who are employed at the Band’s Nay Ah Shing Schools.
View current job postings:
Job Postings
Local business impact
Dozens of new businesses have opened and expanded as a result of increased demand and opportunities created by the Mille Lacs Band’s casinos. Local clinics, hospitals and utilities have also grown. The casinos alone have spent millions of dollars in capital construction since they opened in the early 1990s, and they purchase millions of dollars in goods and services annually from vendors within a 60-mile radius of each casino.
Taxes
The Mille Lacs Band is the largest taxpayer in Pine County and one of the largest in Mille Lacs County. The Band, the Corporate Commission, Grand Casino Mille Lacs, and Grand Casino Hinckley paid
nearly $1.5 million in combined property taxes to three counties in 2008, including:
• $1,039,881 to Pine County
• $395,226 to Mille Lacs County
• $56,308 to Aitkin County
In addition, the casinos have paid $80.2 million in federal and state taxes based on employee wages since opening their doors. The employees themselves are subject to the same taxes paid by other Minnesotans. The only exception is American Indians who live and work on the reservation – they do not pay state income taxes.