Displaying items tagged: Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians

KALAMAZOO — Western Michigan University, in coordination with three local tribal nations, will begin offering a graduate certificate program in tribal governance in early 2023.

GRAND RAPIDS — Deidra Mitchell, president and CEO of Waséyabek Development Co. LLC, was selected to guest lecture at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to promote best practices in tribal economic development.

SAUGATUCK TWP. — Controversy over a multi-purpose development on the mouth of the Kalamazoo River in Saugatuck Township will drag on for at least a few more months amid recent court developments. 

BATTLE CREEK — FireKeepers Casino Hotel is now the 13th operator in the state to launch online sports betting and casino gaming. 

More than a decade ago, Grand Rapids business leaders lobbied hard to block the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, known locally as the Gun Lake Tribe, from opening a casino near Wayland. 

Groups like 23 is Enough and MichGO drove the narrative that any casino development south of Grand Rapids would “siphon off” jobs and investment from the city’s then-rebuilding downtown, limiting growth in entertainment options and economic opportunity alike. They cited a study commissioned by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce in the early 2000s that estimated $880 million of “economic hemorrhaging” in the surrounding counties if Gun Lake Casino were ever allowed to move forward. 

Looking around downtown Grand Rapids today, it’s hard to find evidence that their worst fears were in any way realized. 

GRAND RAPIDS — Tribally owned Gun Lake Investments and Waséyabek Development Co. have jointly acquired McKay Tower in downtown Grand Rapids, MiBiz has learned.