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(Editor’s Note: This is part of a continuing series of profiles of companies participating in the Kitsap Economic Development Council’s (KEDC) Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Program. Recently Leonard Forsman of the Suquamish Tribe sat down with the KEDC’s management team for an in-depth BRE survey. The purpose of the survey is to help the KEDC assess the local business climate and to identify any hindrances to a company’s continuing prosperity and expansion in the community. The survey also seeks to identify the positive factors in the local business climate and how to best capitalize on these factors.)
Chartered in 1985, Port Madison Enterprises and its seven-member board of directors are responsible for overseeing the economic development of the Suquamish Tribe.
The biggest and perhaps the best-known Port Madison Enterprise (PME) venture is the Clearwater Casino. The casino opened in July 2003 and was fully financed by conventional bank loans, without the use of management agreements or silent partners. That means the control of the casino is local. PME employs over 682 people and is one of the largest employers in the county. “We are really excited about the economic opportunities the casino provides for the tribe,” said Leonard Forsman of the Suquamish Tribe.
One opportunity that the casino provides is a program by which tribal employees of the casino can get their degree in Hospitality and Casino Management at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. “Currently we have two employees in the program and we have one more who will start school at Washington State in Hotel and Restaurant Management,” reported Forsman.
In January 2004 the PME purchase of the Kiana Lodge, returned control of the land the lodge sits on back to the tribe. The Kiana Lodge is a beautiful facility with exquisite gardens and breathtaking views. Popular as a wedding facility, it is not unusual for the lodge to host five weddings each weekend during the summer months. The lodge is currently renovating its kitchen facilities to provide an expanded menu. Lodge management is hoping that once the planned hotel adjacent to the casino is completed they will be able to market the lodge as a corporate retreat center. “We believe the secluded nature of Kiana Lodge and the entertainment opportunities of Clearwater Casino will make us a corporate retreat destination,” says Forsman.
In 2003 the Suquamish Tribe purchased the Suquamish Village Square and turned the management of the Texaco Station over to PME. In November 2004 PME opened a Subway store next to the Texaco station. Currently the tribe is renovating the other buildings in the square to serve as administrative building for tribal police and courts.
The Suquamish Tribe leased out the area known as Suquamish Shores to a private developer in 1967 for 50 years. This lease was reviewed and renegotiated in 1992, resulting in the Tribe acquiring the lease from the original leaseholder. The Tribe manages the property for the existing lessees.
In 1995 The Tribal Council passed the Suquamish Seafood Enterprise Charter, creating the Suquamish Seafood Board, a five-member board that oversees harvest and sale of 400,000 pounds of geoduck clams. Suquamish Seafood employs five full time and ten part time employees. Additionally the company has 20 contracted divers that are used to harvest the Tribe’s geoduck allocation. Most of the geoduck is sent to markets in Asia.
To solidify the tribe’s commitment to economic development, the Suquamish Tribal Council approved the following economic development statement in February 2004: “The Suquamish Tribe strives to provide a stable economic base for its members and greater tribal community that provides revenues to support the Tribe’s vision of providing for the health, education and welfare of its tribal families and to offer living wage job opportunities with quality benefits to its members and other tribal community members in a culturally and environmentally sensitive manner; working to enhance opportunities for individual tribal members to establish on-reservation private businesses on individually owned tribal lands and/or in tribally owned and managed properties by providing technical assistance and planning for infrastructure improvements.”
The Suquamish Tribe
PO Box 498
Suquamish, WA 98392
(360) 598-3311
www.suquamish.nsn.us | 