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John Sowell Roseburg News-Review -December 19, 2005
The Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians contributed more than $107 million to the economy of Douglas County in 2004, according to a study commissioned by the tribe.The study, completed by EcoNorthwest of Portland, said the county's overall payroll would have been $40 million lower if the tribe didn't have a presence here. In addition, small companies and self-employed workers would have earned $6.4 million less, the study said.
The tribe's efforts to diversify the Cow Creeks own more than a dozen businesses aside from the Seven Feathers Hotel and Casino Resort in Canyonville have made a much larger impact on the local economy than if it had relied solely on casino profits, said Robert Whelan, the study's author.
"The effect of that is very noticeable," said Whelan, who is considered an expert on tribal operations in Oregon. "It's so much larger than with other tribes."
Tribal leaders commissioned the study, in part to temper criticism of the Cow Creeks for seeking to have their downtown Roseburg property placed into tribal trust. The land has been proposed for a convention center and placing the property into trust will take it off property tax rolls.
Douglas County Commissioners Dan Van Slyke and Marilyn Kittelman have been vocal critics of that plan. They said local taxing agencies will be hurt by the loss of property tax revenues. No public entity other than the county has complained about the tribe's plans.
Tribal leaders say the loss in property taxes will be more than offset by an increase in jobs and in benefits to non-tribal businesses by people who would attend conventions in Roseburg. They say it's unfair to criticize the tribe's plans when the project will boost the entire community.
"This tribe, more than any tribe I know, is a part of and is integrated in this community. And we're proud of that," said Sue Shaffer, the tribe's chairwoman. "I've never seen anything like that (the criticism) in my life."
Cow Creek businesses
Businesses owned by the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians Seven Feathers Hotel & Casino Resort, Canyonville
Umpqua Indian Foods, Canyonville
Seven Feathers Truck and Travel Center, Canyonville
Creekside Restaurant, Canyonville
Creative Images, Roseburg
Rio Communications, Roseburg
Canyonville Cubbyholes, Canyonville
Valley View Motel, Riverside Inn (Canyonville), Rivers West RV Park (Myrtle Creek), Holiday Motel (Roseburg)
Umpqua Indian Utility Cooperative
K-Bar Ranch, Myrtle Creek
The study, Whelan said, was a conservative measure of the tribe's impact. He based his analysis on the net effect, excluding employment and spending that would have occurred even if the tribe wasn't located in the county. Most studies on companies tend to focus on gross impacts, which Whelan said isn't as useful in determining overall effects.For example, the study looked at the benefits provided by 750 of the tribe's 1,168 employees. The difference represents the number of people working for the tribe who would have resided and worked in Douglas County whether the tribe was here or not. The 750 jobs represent the net direct impact of the tribe on the county's economy.
Likewise, the analysis excluded money earned at the tribe's casino that went to fund tribal government and other business activities.
The tribe spent $53.1 million in 2004, including $24.3 million in wages
(46 percent). In other spending, 17 percent went to construction projects, 7 percent to wholesale and retail spending, 5 percent in finance, insurance and real estate and 3 percent in manufacturing.Whelan also found that the tribe through its spending on goods and services generated another $25.8 million in economic activity for other non-tribal businesses. It included $8.2 million in wages, $1.8 million in income for small business owners and $2.5 million in rental income, dividends and corporate profits.
Roughly 260 jobs were created by spending from the tribe and added spending by other businesses that benefited from tribal business, Whelan said. The largest indirect job impacts came in the construction sector (38.6. percent) and the service sector (30.3 percent).
In addition, Whelan found that another $28.3 million was generated through induced spending related to higher spending by households linked to the tribe's government and business activities and charitable spending. That included $11.5 million in wages and $1.3 million in income for local business owners. The added spending led to the creation of another 480 jobs, Whelan said.
Altogether, the study found that without the tribe, Douglas County would have had 1,610 fewer jobs last year. That would have caused the county's reported unemployment rate in December 2004 to rise from 8.6 percent to 11.9 percent. It would have also cost the county up to 4,231 residents, including nearly 900 school-age children who would have likely left the county, Whelan said.
Last year, the tribe donated $1 million to nonprofit, charitable and local government programs in Douglas County, along with another $606,000 to groups in neighboring counties.
When the tribe expanded its gaming operations from the original bingo hall opened in 1992, it negotiated a compact with the state that mandated that 6 percent of gaming profits must go to charity.
Whelan found the Cow Creeks far exceeded the legal requirement. Of the cash donated to Douglas County nonprofits, $470,000 came from the Cow Creek Foundation, funded by casino profits. The rest,
$342,000 from the tribe to Douglas County communities, schools and charities and $199,000 in donations from the Seven Feathers Resort, were voluntarily given."We really are a positive for this community," tribal official Michael Rondeau said. "We're going to continue what we're doing, the positives that benefit the lives of people in southern Oregon."
The Cows Creeks have more than 4,000 acres of land in Douglas County that has been taken into tribal trust, property valued at more than $85 million. Of the nearly $3.8 billion of land, buildings and other property subject to full or partial property tax exemptions, the Cow Creek holdings accounted for 2 percent of the total, Whelan said.
Land owned by the federal government, with a retail value of $1.2 billion, accounted for nearly a third of the exemptions. Veterans exemptions and specially assessed farm and forest land accounted for another $1.5 billion in exemptions.
The tribal exemption falls below those for school districts ($213.8 million), religious groups ($129.7 million), the county ($127.9 million), cities ($105.2 million) and business enterprise zones ($87.6 million.)
For those who oppose the tribe's activities, Shaffer said she doesn't expect the study will change their minds. However, she hopes it will allow them to see the positive influence the tribe has on Douglas County.
"All of these attacks have made us decide we need to talk about this more," Shaffer said. "We're not going to allow a few naysayers to make a difference."
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