On Wednesday, June 26 Muscogee (Creek) Nation called a Press Conference to reveal their economic impact on Oklahoma. Secretary of the Nation Elijah McIntosh was the emcee and welcomed all in attendance. Some of which included members of the Muscogee Cabinet, Deputy Tax Commissioner Jennifer Langley and Secretary of Interior Affairs, Jesse Allen and Charlotte Howe with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce (ODOC), Tulsa County Commissioners Stan Sallee and Karen Keith, House Representative Dean Davis (Dist. 98) and Tulsa County Clerk Michael Willis.
Muscogee (Creek) Nation is currently the 4th largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and has more than 87,000 citizens. 75% of their members live in Oklahoma. The Nation employed a 3rd party auditor, Dr. Kyle Dean with the Economic Impact Group. The findings of the report were based on the 2000 and 2017 fiscal years. The report revealed their economic impact for Oklahoma is $866,157,110 while their total United States economic impact reached $1.4 billion.
Lucian Tiger III, Speaker of the National Council, was welcomed to the podium and he said, “Muscogee Nation is a thriving and vital component of our local communities as well as the state of Oklahoma.” The Nation employs about 1,200 at the River Spirit Casino in Tulsa but he gave examples of how the Nation has a large employment influence in other areas supporting nearly 8,700 jobs. They invest heavily in education which benefits students and faculty, native and non-native. The Nation has a 100% graduation rate. The report shows more than $12 million in state and local education support.
Principal Chief James Floyd was the next speaker. He spoke in greater detail of the employment impact mentioning good benefits, health insurance and 401K’s. Chief Floyd said while their impact number was very large, “we are always mindful of the smaller things, they are most important. And, that is the people we employ.” He went on to explain that during the recent historic flooding they made the decision to continue to pay their River City Casino employees which cost about $5,000,000 while the Casino was closed for one month. “We will always put our people first. And we will make sure that we demonstrate that every day, in everything that we do.”
The Last speaker was Dr. Kyle Dean, the economist with Economic Impact Group. He explained in detail how the numbers were figured. They collected audited financial statements which included data on government expenditures, business revenues, capital expenditures on capital improvements on buildings and roads and projects and employment numbers which included wages and benefits that were only paid to Oklahoma residents. The team used this information as input for a traditional economic impact model. He went on to say, “These are permanent, long term impacts that provide jobs over a very long period of time.”
Muscogee (Creek) Nation has impacted Creek County as well by contributing an estimated $24,000,000. Creek County is named after this tribe. The full impact report that includes veteran affairs, healthcare, transportation, roads and bridges, education and employment can be found at mcnimpact.com.
Brooke DeLong
