Few people would guess today, and most would have been astounded to hear only a few years ago, which employer is tied for the second largest in the Idaho Panhandle.
It's the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.
An Indian tribe whose reservation members once suffered an unemployment rate as high as 80 percent now has a job for every member who wants one. In all, it employs more than 1,400 people.
And they aren't all jobs connected with gambling, either. Although the tribe's casino on U.S. Highway 95 near Worley was the seed from which economic growth sprouted, the Coeur d'Alenes, like the Nez Perce in north central Idaho, are smart enough to know the future lies in diversification.
To that end, the Coeur d'Alenes built a destination hotel next to their huge casino, which itself began as a small bingo hall in 1993. Next came a golf course, also connected to the resort.
And last year, the tribe bought Berg Integrated Systems, a manufacturer of expandable steel structures used where tents formerly were. This year, the tribe cut the ribbon for its new enterprise.
As Tribune readers know, the Nez Perce Tribe is following a similar path, as shown by the nearly completed 50-room hotel at its Clearwater River Casino outside Lewiston. The tribe also operates the It'se Ye Ye Casino in Kamiah.
Both tribes are putting the lie to the long-stated claim by Idaho's opponents of Indian casinos that gambling is a dead-end, something that is no substitute for real economic development. Many of those critics have sought to put the casinos out of business, while promising to help the tribes with other developments.
But even after Idahoans amended the state constitution, purportedly to outlaw casino gambling, no help arrived. And as tribes used their casino profits to lift their members out of poverty - and even to share the wealth with local school districts - most Idahoans near reservations grew to respect their ambition, and their self-reliance.
Today, the Coeur d'Alene Tribe "plays a major role in both Kootenai and Benewah counties," says regional state economist Kathryn Tacke. "Over the last 20 years, it's been the major reason for job growth in (rural) Benewah County."
And it rivals Hagadone Hospitality, owner of the Coeur d'Alene Resort on Lake Coeur d'Alene, as the region's second largest employer. Only Kootenai Medical Center employs more people, about 1,700.
Throughout northern Idaho, what is good for the tribes is proving good for the extended community. - J.F.
