Business View Magazine - January 2024

then in turn helped establish and create a self- sustaining health system that might be one of the only models in the American health system that’s designed to maintain a net positive position without compromising the patient’s ability to pay,” Harjo explained. “We’re very proud that we invest in rural areas, especially where citizens, whether they’re tribal or not, probably don’t have the financial resources to pony up the money. But instead, the tribe, unlike its municipal partners, or the state even, does have the resources to invest in those areas and cover some of the shortfalls, while still providing top-notch health care. So, it’s something we’re very proud about.” CULTURAL ECONOMY The Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe in the United States, with more than 450,000 citizens worldwide. The Cherokee Nation Business (CNB) is the holding company for the tribe’s business enterprises, and with more than 11,000 employees is one of the largest employers in northeastern Oklahoma. The annual economic impact the tribe and its businesses have on the region is more than $3 billion. That impact comes from a variety of businesses under CNB. “Think about it in three big buckets,” said Andy McMillan, CNB director of economic development and special projects. “There are companies within each of those, but the first would be that we do a lot of gaming and hospitality. So that encompasses casino gaming properties, hotels, some golf properties as well. For Tulsa and the Tulsa market, it’s our Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on the east side of Tulsa.That’s kind of a flagship property for us.” The second “bucket” is Cherokee Federal, which is a large federal contractor. “We do all sorts of outsourced services for the federal government,” McMillan said. “Lots of work with the United States Department of Defense [DOD]. Lots of work with other federal agencies where we provide program management, staffing, logistics management, all kinds of sort of contract support for things that the federal government wants to do and procure, both here in the United States, and some of the contract work that we support is overseas as well, on behalf of the federal government.” The third “bucket” covers Cherokee cultural and Tulsa’s economy to the tune of approximately $500 million through its gaming and hospitality divisions and anticipates that impact will increase to several billion dollars in the coming years. The nation owns and operates 11 casino properties in the area, with its flagship casino, River Spirit, located in Tulsa. “It’s a huge economic impact area in the state, and that’s one of the top performing facilities within the state of Oklahoma and drives essentially all of the economy in southern Tulsa,” Harjo said. The nation is also working with the cities of Tulsa and Jenks, and the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) on a low-water dam project in South Tulsa. Announced in 2022, the dam project will create a new lake in the Arkansas River that will cover from 71st Street to 101st Street in the city, allowing for the development of the area with adjacent retail, residential and hospitality projects, making the riverfront an attraction like the riverfront districts in Austin or San Antonio, Texas, according to Harjo. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation plans to build in the vicinity of the dam. “We have a closer to $450-$500 million development project ending next to that $100 million dollar project, and that’s solely an initiative the nation is taking on,” Harjo said. The nation is financing the project and negotiating a tax incremental financing (TIF) district with the city of Tulsa, which would be historic as, according to Harjo, the city has never executed a TIF with any tribe. The nation also is investing in health care and is the only tribe in Oklahoma to implement health care facilities and hospitals to serve the public. The tribe operates the Okemah Community Hospital, Okmulgee Medical Center, Council Oak Comprehensive Healthcare, and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Physical Rehabilitation Center, which are open to the public, as well as seven health clinics for tribal citizens. “We also purchased the former Cancer Treatment Centers of America Hospital in Tulsa, and now operate that,” Harjo said. “We’re still in the process of opening it up to the general public.” “So, we’re making these large investments with the economic mind that gaming and our other successful business ventures have helped us create, that has 8 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01