When the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians opens its Four Winds South Bend casino with a 55,000 square foot gaming floor in South Bend, Indiana, it will make annual payments to the city equal to 2 percent of net winnings or new less than million, plus invest million in the community over three years. In addition, the venue will provide 2,000 jobs—a 2.9 percent increase in the total employment of St. Joseph County.
Critics of the project predict it will cause increased traffic, noise, crime, bankruptcy and divorce, and take money from established small businesses. However, the same predictions were made when the tribe announced plans for its $180 million Four Winds New Buffalo, a typical Lake Michigan resort town with small local shops and restaurants. The casino opened in August 2007 and with a 415-room hotel added in 2011, it employs 1,800 people, making it the fourth largest employer in Berrien County.
New Buffalo Township Supervisor Michelle Heit said, “It has been good for our economy, with an increased number of people coming to our area. We also have the Local Revenue Sharing Board and the Pokagon Fund, from which we have benefited greatly.” Mayor Lou O’Donnell added, “The casino has had a very positive impact. It’s been beneficial to the actual city of New Buffalo and the surrounding communities.”
New Buffalo Township has police coverage through the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, Heit said, thanks to casino revenue. “We didn’t have dedicated police coverage before,” she said. Also, $1.6 million in casino revenue is helping to pay for a $5 million downtown improvement project in New Buffalo.
The tribe also has satellite casinos in Hartford and Dowagiac. Altogether it spent $91 million on payroll in 2016, plus $78 million for the services and products of 2,337 vendors in Indiana and Michigan, according to tribal figures. In addition, it reported $339 million in economic investment in the region from 2013 through 2016 on public safety, parks and education. The tribe also provides qualifying New Buffalo High School graduates with up to $20,000 in tuition assistance through the nonprofit Pokagon Fund.
Sales tax revenue, a key indicator of economic health, also grew 19 percent in Berrien County from 2006 to 2014, the most recent year data is available, according to the Michigan Department of Treasury—despite the recession. “From my experience there hasn’t been much impact from the casino to local businesses in a negative way or even necessarily in a positive way. It’s been pretty neutral,” O’Donnell said. Jeanne Tibbles, owner of The Villager gift shop, said, “I think it has drawn more people to the area and created more of a year-round economy. I never thought I’d say that.”
Still, said therapist Melanie Page-Wood, owner of Bright Hope Counseling Center in St. Joseph, Michigan, “Most of the people I see for gambling addiction didn’t have an addiction before the casino came in. They very clearly say, ‘I didn’t gamble until it got here, and when it came here, that’s when I started gambling.’” She said the casino promotes responsible gambling and supports addiction services but she believes it could be doing more. “It does provide Berrien County with quite a few jobs but unfortunately people do develop gambling addictions.”
