The Muscogee (Creek) Nation has an $866,157,110 economic impact in Oklahoma, according to the tribe’s first comprehensive report on the subject.
The tribe commissioned the study from the Economic Impact Group, and it's based on audited, fiscal year 2017 data. The report said United States' fourth-largest federally recognized tribe has a total impact in the U.S. of $1.4 billion.
The report also digs into job numbers. Muscogee (Creek) Nation National Council Speaker Lucian Tiger said River Spirit Casino is their most visible business endeavor, but the 1,200 people working there don’t represent their biggest employment footprint.
"Our nation’s headquarters in Okmulgee, Oklahoma — as an example of economic impact in the county of Okmulgee, we employ 2,400 people, which is approximately 25 percent of the jobs in Okmulgee County," Tiger said.
Tiger said in McIntosh County, which has one of Oklahoma’s highest unemployment rates, the tribe accounts for almost one in three jobs.
Kyle Dean with the Economic Impact Group said the tribe supports nearly 8,700 total jobs in the state. Dean saiudwhile communities scramble to offer incentives to companies promising a few hundred jobs, tribal employment comes with no such cost.
"How much would Okfuskee County, how much would McIntosh County, how much would the City of Tulsa or Wewoka or Wetumka — how much would they be willing to pay in order to attract these businesses to these communities that provide jobs for local citizens?" Dean said.
The report also said the Muscogee (Creek) Nation invested $12 million in education beyond state compacts and had 120,000 patient visits to health care centers in FY17.
Principal Chief James Floyd said the benefits the report identified extend to more than just the tribe’s 87,000 citizens.
"The report really kind of pulls back the curtain on a lot of things and shows that it’s not just gaming, that there’s a number of other factors that we’re involved in," Floyd said.
Floyd wants the economic impact report to be an annual publication.
