By Hailey Palmer, Puyallup Tribal News
Puyallup Tribal Enterprises CEO Matt Wadhwani was one of three speakers at the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Tacoma Business Forum on July 16, where he shared the Tribe’s gaming history and efforts at economic diversification.
The event served as an opportunity for local business and community leaders to exchange ideas and hear from others on where their business ventures are headed.
Other speakers included Port of Tacoma Commissioner President John McCarthy and MultiCare CEO Bill Robertson.
Wadhwani touched on a variety of subjects including the Tribe’s casino operations, other entities and business strategy.
“(Gaming has) been really important to our Tribe as it has created jobs and funded education, our cancer center, our health authority,” he said. “Gaming has been the lifeblood of our Tribe and it’s done really well for us, and now with economic development we’re trying to do more.”
Economic development has always been a huge goal of the Tribe, Wadhwani said, but it really started to take off in 2020.
Having to temporarily pause operations at both Emerald Queen Casino locations due to the pandemic led to the Tribe’s aggressive push on diversifying its economic portfolio.
“In the past, the casino generated close to 80 to 90% of the Tribe’s revenue,” Wadhwani said. “When we got shut down (pandemic), it was a huge blow to us and that really amped up our efforts of economic development.”
With any economic development the Tribe does, Wadhwani said it’s all about jobs, the environment, return on investment and finding a partner that respects what the Tribe values.
Recent partnerships with the Northwest Seaport Alliance, celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi for Woven Seafood & Chophouse and Kenmore Air are examples of that.
“The Tribe has proven its credibility and we still have a ton of assets to activate. We’re all about opening partnerships and finding the right partners to win together,” Wadhwani said. “It’s not only about us, it’s about our neighbors and the surrounding community, as well. When we win, we all win.”
The Tribe’s economic development in the last few years has created 200 jobs and more than $100 million in profit from all of its entities that include Tahoma Construction Services, Tahoma Logistics, Puyallup Chocolates and the Cedar Wellness Center.
Wadhwani said when he and his team first started exploring economic development, people knew who the Tribe was because of the Emerald Queen Casino, so those earlier days were about establishing credibility.
With that credibility now established, the Puyallup Tribal Enterprises team is looking to make the Tribe’s presence felt while continuing to do things that no other Tribe is doing.
“I do want to set an example for other Tribes and set a precedent for what we can do. I tell my team they will teach about us in textbooks one day,” Wadhwani said. “It’s really about establishing our reputation, providing financial sustainability for both current and future Tribal generations and teaching the world about our culture and who we are. We were almost extinct, but look at us today.”
