General Information

• The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe owns Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley, which are located on tribal lands in Mille Lacs and Pine counties in East Central Minnesota.  Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley are operated by the Band’s Corporate Commission, an entity separate from the tribal government that oversees the Band’s business enterprises and investigates new business opportunities for the Band.

Employment

• The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe is among Minnesota’s 50 largest employers.  (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, March 7, 2008)
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley directly employ more than 2,900 people, of whom about 92 percent are non-Indian. 
  
• Most Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley employees are residents of rural areas where steady jobs with good benefits were once in short supply.  In 2007, Grand Casino Hinckley provided roughly 23 percent of the jobs in Pine County.  Grand Casino Mille Lacs and other Band-owned businesses provided 13.6 percent of the jobs in Mille Lacs County.  (Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s average annual employment data for 2006 and internal Corporate Commission data undated)* 
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley are the two largest employers in Economic Development Region 7E.  (MNPRO Website, Department of Employment and Economic Development)*
  
• Many new jobs have been created by neighboring local businesses to accommodate increased visitor traffic attracted by Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley and spending by casino employees.
  
• Job opportunities at Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley were created without any financial assistance from the state government.
  
• In 1990, before Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley opened, the Mille Lacs Reservation was one of the poorest reservations in the nation, with a poverty rate of nearly 81 percent.  Today, many of these people have jobs with the Band’s businesses, and the poverty rate has dropped to about 15 percent.  The overall poverty rate has also decreased among Mille Lacs County and Pine County residents.
  
• The Mille Lacs Band passed a law in 1998 that requires all employers on the reservation that do more than $500,000 in business each year to pay a minimum wage of $7 per hour.  Smaller businesses must pay a minimum wage of $6.50 per hour.  Those wages are 14 percent and 24 percent higher than the state’s minimum wages.  (Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry)*  
  

Health Care and Insurance Benefits

• More than 4,300 people are covered by Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley insurance plans.
  
• The Mille Lacs Band government, the Mille Lacs Band Corporate Commission, and Band-owned businesses (including Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley) spent nearly $31.4 million on health care expenditures in 2007.
  
• The Mille Lacs Band Corporate Commission and Band-owned businesses (including Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley) provided nearly $18.7 million in health and dental plan benefits in 2007.
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley partner with Mille Lacs Health System, Brainerd Medical Center, Allina Medical Clinic in Mora, and Gateway Family Health Clinics in Hinckley and Moose Lake to offer urgent care services without a co-pay to casino Associates.
  

Business Growth

• There are 29 Band member-owned businesses currently operating that have received various types of assistance from the Corporate Commission’s Small Business Development Program.  Businesses currently operating include a coffee shop, salons, a fitness club, a horse operation, a sign
  company, sewing/quilting, lawn care, vending, and construction companies. 
  
• More than 40 local businesses opened as a direct result of increased demand and opportunities created by Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley.  These businesses include fast food franchises, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and convenience stores.
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley have spent millions of dollars in capital construction since they opened.
  
• The Onamia Hospital has expanded, in part because Grand Casino Mille Lacs provides health insurance benefits to area residents who may not have had insurance before.
  
• Local utilities have expanded their power output to accommodate the casinos’ electrical needs.  Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley paid approximately $5.8 million in overall utilities during 2007.
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley purchased more than $31.7 million in goods and services from vendors located within the local area economy in 2007.  This area is defined as vendors within a 60-mile radius of each casino.
  

Taxes

• The Mille Lacs Band, the Corporate Commission, and Grand Casino Mille Lacs paid $384,830 in property taxes to Mille Lacs County in 2007. 
  
• The Mille Lacs Band, the Corporate Commission, and Grand Casino Hinckley paid $1,060,136 in property taxes to Pine County in 2007.  
  
• The Mille Lacs Band and the Corporate Commission paid $56,286 in property taxes to Aitkin County in 2007. 
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley employees are subject to the same taxes paid by other Minnesotans, including federal and state income taxes, Social Security taxes, unemployment insurance, real estate and sales taxes, liquor and cigarette taxes, and gas and motor vehicle taxes.  The only exception is American Indians who live and work on the reservation – they do not pay state income taxes.  In addition, people who live on trust lands do not pay real estate taxes, because they lease rather than own the property.
  
• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley have paid $73.9 million in federal and state taxes based on wages paid to employees since 1991. 
  
• The Mille Lacs Band government taxes its casinos at 100%, similar to how a city would tax a municipal liquor store.  The government then utilizes the tax revenues to provide programs and services to Band members, invest in infrastructure and economic development that benefit the community, and accomplish other important goals.
  
• The estimated market value of property in Mille Lacs and Pine counties increased 391 percent and 369 percent respectively from 1994/1995 to 2004/2005.  The annual compound growth in value for the 10 years exceeds the state average by 25 percent in Mille Lacs County and by 31 percent in Pine County.  A large share of this growth is from new construction adding to the asset base of the respective counties.  In every year since 1994, the growth rate from new construction in Mille Lacs and Pine counties has exceeded the state average. (“Minnesota Property Values and Tax Assessment Practices Report 2006,” Property Tax Division, Minnesota Department of Revenue, March 2006)*
  

Contributions to the Community

• Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley have given millions of dollars in charitable donations since 1991 to law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, hospitals, food shelves, and other organizations or projects that serve the entire community.
  
• The Mille Lacs Band is a partner in the Minnesota Tribal Government Foundation.  The foundation was formed in 2005 and made its first gift of $100,000.  In June 2008, the foundation granted more than $500,000 in gifts.
  
• The Mille Lacs Band’s tribal police force does not have a station in Hinckley, so Grand Casino Hinckley contributes $92,000 annually to the Pine County Sheriff’s Office to offset law enforcement and public safety costs. 
  

Housing

• Total population and housing units have increased in the casino areas at a faster rate than in many Minnesota communities of comparable size.  According to the latest census data, the population from 1990-2000 increased:
  • 25 percent in Onamia
  • 36 percent in Hinckley
  • 20 percent in Mille Lacs County 
  • 25 percent in Pine County
    
• According to the most recently recorded figures, property market values have increased by 419 percent in Hinckley since Grand Casino Hinckley opened, and by 325 percent in Onamia since Grand Casino Mille Lacs opened.  Property market values in Minnesota cities as a whole have increased 264 percent during that same period.  (League of Minnesota Cities)*
  

*All information included in this fact sheet provided by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe unless otherwise noted.