Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tribal Economic Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Cherokee Nation Businesses reports softer gaming trends, Arkansas trial continues and workforce data
Summary
A Cherokee Nation Businesses (CNB) representative told the Executive and Finance Committee that global gaming revenues slipped in February, a federal bench trial in Arkansas over a casino license is wrapping up and the tribe’s workforce numbers and Native hiring percentages were reported.
Molly Jarvis, speaking for Cherokee Nation Businesses, told the Cherokee Nation Executive and Finance Committee on March 27 that CNB saw a pullback across the gaming industry and a mix of financial outcomes across subsidiaries.
Jarvis, presenting in place of CNB CEO Chuck Garrett, said the CNB financial report showed “all areas trending down from prior year and budget” for February, though she noted one subsidiary, described in the report as Cherokee Nation Mission Solutions, posted higher-than-budgeted EBITDA for the month. She said year-to-date consolidated net income for the CNB group, “without the ARPA funds received,” was up 11% compared with budget.
The report also updated the committee on a federal court case in Arkansas involving a casino gaming license awarded to Cherokee Nation Entertainment. Jarvis said the trial was on its third day and likely its final day, and that the judge “does not anticipate making a ruling from the bench, but instead allowing the parties to submit post trial briefs.” She said the parties expect a written ruling after short post-trial briefing.
Jarvis provided workforce statistics at CNB: the company has 9,546 employees; CNB is permitted to apply hiring preference to 3,657 positions; Cherokee citizens occupy 61.1% of positions where preference may be applied; an additional 6.4% of employees are from other tribal nations, yielding a total Native employee share of 67.5%, per the presentation.
Jarvis highlighted other items in the CNB report: a $100,000 pledge from Cherokee Nation and CNB to the Tulsa Area United Way tied to OCO TV under Cherokee Film; a new exhibit at the Anna Mitchell Cultural and Welcome Center featuring a pottery collection associated with the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and collected by Victoria Vasquez; and the unveiling of a patent-pending device described in the report as the Mobile Veripad Platform (MVP). She also flagged staffing shortages at the Cherokee Meat Company retail location, saying that “we only have 1 person working the retail front of house there,” which limits hours of operation.
The committee did not question Jarvis following the presentation. The CNB report items were presented as informational updates to the Executive and Finance Committee; no formal committee direction or vote on CNB business was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Jarvis identified Chuck Garrett as the CNB CEO who was attending the Arkansas trial; the transcript shows no substantive remarks from Garrett during this committee meeting.
The committee moved on to other agenda items after the CNB presentation.
