As early as 1700, when the first Europeans ventured into what is
now east Mississippi, the Choctaw people had a strong economy based
on communal ownership and responsibility. The Choctaws enjoyed a
brisk trade with the French, and were noted for their high quality
farming, adept trading skills, and overall level of prosperity.
Doing business with others has always been a strong tradition of
the Choctaw Tribe
.1800s through
early 1900s - Sharecropping
Beginning with the Treaty of Hopewell in 1786, a series of treaties
ceded tribal lands to the U.S. government which eroded the base
of the Tribe's economy. During the 1800s and early 1900s, tribal
members that remained in Mississippi made their living primarily
by sharecropping. They became an impoverished people with a substandard
quality of life and poor health conditions. In the early 1900s,
the Mississippi Choctaws were described as the poorest pocket of
poverty in the poorest state in the country.
.Opening the
First Business
The
Tribe was federally recognized by the United States Government in
1945. By the late 1960s Tribal leaders did not see any improvement
in their situation despite 15-years of effort by the federal employees
sent to help them. The Tribal leadership that it would never rise
out of poverty through dependency on the government. With Choctaw
unemployment remaining at 80%, the first goal for the Tribe's economic
development program was job creation.
Chief Martin began to establish his reputation as a visionary by
capitalizing on the only opportunity that existed at the time. The
federal government was sending funds to the Choctaw Tribe to build
houses under a low-income housing program. He realized that the
tribe could start a construction company that would build these
houses for a small profit, while also teaching tribal members a
skill. In 1969, the Tribe opened its first company, Chahta
Development, to build houses for tribal members.
.The Tribe's
Industrial Revolution
Building upon this progress proved to be a slow process. Chief
Martin felt that the next step in tribal development was to recruit
industrial jobs to the reservation; his timing couldn't have been
better. During the 1970s, manufacturing jobs began to move South
to avoid the increasing wages of unionized labor in the north. In
a gesture that epitomizes Chief Martin's determination, he wrote
500 letters to companies around the U.S. asking them to locate a
plant in the Tribe's newly developed industrial park. This tremendous
effort was rewarded when Packard Electric, a division of General
Motors, committed to opening a facility on the Reservation. In 1979,
Chahta Enterprise opened
as the Tribe's first manufacturing company producing wiring harnesses
for the automotive industry.
The next industrial project involved American Greetings
Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of greeting
cards. For the first time in Indian country, Industrial Revenue
Bonds were issued by the local, non-Indian government to finance
the construction of a facility on the Reservation. In 1981, the
120,000 square foot plant was leased to American Greetings, and
currently employs 250 local residents.
The next development came in the form of a joint-venture between
the MBCI and Oxford Speaker Company from Chicago. Oxford was seeking
a minority partner located in the south to manufacture automotive
speakers. Choctaw Electronics Enterprise
opened in 1985 as the Tribe's first joint-venture.
In only 6-years, the MBCI opened 3 new companies, using 3 very
different business models. It is this flexibility that has been
the backbone of the Tribe's continued success. Industrial expansions
continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s with the opening of Choctaw
Manufacturing Enterprise, First American Printing & Direct Mail,
and First American Plastic Molding Enterprise. By 1998,
the Tribe had 6 manufacturing companies employing approximately
2,000 people in 5 industrial parks. Chief Martin had achieved his
first goal of creating employment opportunities for Tribal members.
.Diversification
into the Retail and Service Industries
During the 1980s and 1990s the Tribe also worked to diversify its
economy. At that time, it was heavily dependent on the automotive
industry which is cyclical in nature, and vulnerable to recession.
In 1986, the Tribe opened the Choctaw Residential Center,
a 120-bed nursing home that provides full-time care for the elderly
and employs 125 people. In 1989, the Tribe opened a community retail
shopping center that offered a grocery store, bank, general merchandise,
and other convenience items to the local community. This facility
employs approximately 100 people while also generating more than
$1 million in sales tax revenue for the Tribal government operations.
Other service-oriented businesses that opened include the Choctaw
Office Supply, Choctaw Post Office, and Choctaw Forestry Enterprise.
By 1990, the Tribe had developed a diversified economy that included
manufacturing, retail, service, and government jobs.
.Focusing
on Revenue
The next phase of economic development began with the opening of
the Silver
Star Resort & Casino on July 1, 1994, marking the Tribe's entry
into the tourism industry. Since 1994, the Silver Star has undergone
5 expansions to become one of the largest casinos in the State of
Mississippi. The Tribe has also opened the award-winning Dancing
Rabbit Golf Club, a 36-hole golf resort designed by Tom Fazio
and Jerry Pate.
The hospitality industry has proven to be a very beneficial industry
for the Tribe in terms of revenue, job creation, average pay per
employee, and positive publicity. For these reasons, the Tribe intends
to continue the expansion of its tourism amenities to develop a
destination resort centered around the gaming industry. Projects
under development include a 280 acre recreational lake, an athletic
training facility, more hotels, retail shopping, additional golf
courses.
.Conclusion
Over the past 30-years that Tribe has developed
a diversified economy that has created employment opportunities
for every Tribal member in the workforce. The Tribe employs approximately
8,000 people in a wide-variety of industries and professions, while
creating revenue to provide government services
for its people. It has used flexibility to capitalize on a number
of opportunities that leverage its resources with the resources
and experience of its business partners. The Tribe has kept its
eye on the goal of self-determination, and has grown from the worst
economic conditions to the regional leader in economic development.
The
Tribe was federally recognized by the United States Government in
1945. By the late 1960s Tribal leaders did not see any improvement
in their situation despite 15-years of effort by the federal employees
sent to help them. The Tribal leadership that it would never rise
out of poverty through dependency on the government. With Choctaw
unemployment remaining at 80%, the first goal for the Tribe's economic
development program was job creation.
