It was good to be able to attend this month’s BC meetings. I have missed some past meetings while I was recovering from knee surgery. I remind you that this is only a summary of the meeting. It is hard to hear at the meeting. If there is an error it is an honest one.
The March Business Committee meeting was held as scheduled on March 6th at 7:00 pm at Grove. Geneva Fletcher was the only BC member absent. It was a very routine meeting.
The casino reported $496,084.03 transferred to the tribe at the end of January. It was reported that the casino performance was strong in February and March had a strong beginning.
The Lodge was a different story. It continues to be a disappointment. At the end of January, the Lodge was $64,730 in the red. According to Rick, a new promotion is showing promise and he feels that February sales may chip away at the deficit. A mild winter and special events beginning in the spring should allow for better financials.
There was no financial presented for the tobacco company. When questioned about this, Jerry explained that the business committee received a financial but the BC did not want the financial made available to the public. Something about secrets and our competitors was the reason given for withholding that information. Sounds like corporate espionage. When questioned about this lack of transparency, the BC admitted that they had told tobacco to confine their financial report to just the BC. Tobacco verbally reported sales in the previous month of $276,200. That alone tells us nothing without a profit and loss statement.
A crisis was created in tobacco when an international buyer who ordered a warehouse of finished product backed out at the last minute. This left tobacco with a huge inventory. The result of this dropped order is a shut-down of the factory for two weeks in March. Workers will be paid $450 a week since they would not be able to collect unemployment for just the two week shutdown. This is designed to offset cash flow problems for the employees. Money will be saved as the factory will not be purchasing any raw product for that period. Sales will continue as usual using the factory inventory to fill orders. Jerry Barber, who will continue to work during the shutdown, agreed to forfeit a week’s salary during the factory closure.
The furniture and office supply business seems promising as they received several orders and have many large bids out. No financial again prevents a clear picture of profit and loss, but financials are promised beginning next month.
There was also no financial for the Smoke Shop, but a verbal report included steady and consistent profits. There was some discussion of construction of a new Smoke Shop in Miami. A more complete report will be presented in April.
The report on the convenience store continues to be a bright star. They reported a profit of $261,711. It continues to produce steady revenue even in the winter. It has been a mild winter in New York and that could account for the good sales during winter months.
In new business, the BC approved a motion to send a letter of support for a Pittsburg State University grant program to train Native Americans as teachers. The Ottawa tribe would be the host tribe for the Grant.
In other action the committee approved a motion to provide a picture of the tribal flag, and the long house, to the National Museum of American Indians in Washington, D.C.
The remainder of the meeting included a discussion, “Everything you want to know about buffalo,” and a report from the chief on his trip to the Reservation Economic Summit.
The meeting adjourned about 8:20.
