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Operating Strong Businesses
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe owns and operates many businesses, including Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley, which provide good jobs and benefits for residents in East Central Minnesota.
Mille Lacs Band casinos
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs is located 90 miles north of the Twin Cities on Highway 169 on the west shore of Mille Lacs Lake.
- Grand Casino Hinckley is located 80 miles north of the Twin Cities, one mile east of I-35 on Highway 48.
- The Mille Lacs Band’s Corporate Commission oversees the Band’s gaming enterprises and supervises the Band’s investments to provide a sound economic future for the Band.
Employment
- The Mille Lacs Band is the 40th largest employer in Minnesota, employing more than 4,100 people in the tribal government and its businesses, including Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley.
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley directly employ approximately 3,000, of whom about 93% are live in the rural Minnesota counties surrounding the casino.
- Steady jobs with good benefits were once in short supply in the rural areas around Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley.
- These jobs were created without any financial assistance from the state or federal government.
- Health care and insurance benefits
- Fifty-five percent of all employees have full health care, 401k, and time off benefits, and a total of 3,416 people are covered by Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley health care plans.
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley partner with Mille Lacs Health System, Brainerd Medical Center, and Gateway Family Health Clinics in Hinckley, Moose Lake, and Sandstone to offer urgent care services without a co-pay to casino Associates.
- Today many of these people have jobs with the Band’s businesses and government.
- Since the casinos opened in 1991 and 1992, jobs have increased by 35% in Mille Lacs County and 72% in Pine County.
Gaming regulations
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley, like all American Indian casinos,
are regulated at the federal, state and tribal levels to assure that gaming is conducted
fairly and honestly.
- Federal level: The National Indian Gaming Commission, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Department of the Treasury regulate the casinos.
- State level: The Minnesota Department of Public Safety conducts background investigations of casino employees and inspects gaming facilities; the Mille Lacs Band contributes money to the department each year to offset the state’s gaming regulatory costs.
- Tribal level: The Band’s Gaming Regulatory Authority provides oversight and enforcement of Band gaming laws, federal gaming laws, and state gaming compacts.
Mille Lacs Band businesses
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs Hotel
- Grand Casino Mille Lacs Events & Convention Center
- Grand Ventures for Kids
- Restaurants at Grand Casino Mille Lacs
- Grand Northern Grill
- Grand Buffet
- The Woodlands Steakhouse
- Plums Snack Bar
- Grand Casino Hinckley Hotel
- Grand Casino Hinckley Events & Convention Center
- Grand Ventures for Kids
- Restaurants at Grand Casino Hinckley
- Grand Grill Americana
- Grand Buffet
- The Winds Steakhouse
- Cherries Snack Bar
- Silver Sevens Lounge
- Grand Casino Hinckley Amphitheater
- Grand Casino Hinckley RV Resort & Chalets
- Grand Hinckley Inn
- Grand Northern Inn
- Grand National Golf Course
- Eddy’s Resort
- Grand Makwa Cinema
- MLB Convenience Store
- East Lake Convenience Store
- Crossroads Convenience Store
- A Subway restaurant franchise
- ML Wastewater Management, Inc.
- Grand Market Grocery Store
- Woodlands National Bank, with offices in Onamia, Hinckley, Cloquet, Sturgeon Lake, Zimmerman, Minneapolis, and a branch inside Grand Market.