Report: Tribe made $2.5 billion impact on Oklahoma in 2019

Feb. 26—A new economic impact report shows the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma provided an impact of $2.5 billion to the state of Oklahoma in 2019.

"The $2.5 billion economic impact makes me extremely proud because of the delivery of services that we're able to give our tribal members," Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton said. "We're about the community as a whole."

The report, prepared by Dr. Kyle Dean, an economist for the Center for Native American and Urban Studies at Oklahoma City University, showed the Choctaw Nation is one of the largest contributors to southeastern Oklahoma, as well as the overall state supporting a total of 18,152 Oklahoman jobs paying wages and benefits totaling $839 million.

"The Choctaw Nation is one of the best partners the state could ask for," said Dean. "Their impacts extend beyond the financial and employment numbers presented in this report as they provide charitable support to local communities, healthcare and services to citizens, and bring infrastructure investment to the state that's enjoyed by all Oklahomans."

Batton said the tribe provides a lot of services in regards to housing, heath and education.

"We take care of our own, but at the same time, we're about the community as a whole," said Batton. "I mean, we're the number 12 employer in the state of Oklahoma, with our expansion to our gamin facility, we'll add 1,200 to that."

In education, the tribe paid more than $278 million in exclusivity fees to the state since 2005 with $28 million pain in 2019 with an additional $47 million "beyond exclusivity fees," the report states.

The tribe also invested more than $7.2 million in scholarships, grants, and other forms of financial support to tribal members and $3.5 million to an after-school program that served more than 3,700 Oklahoma students in 75 schools.

More than 140 tribal members were helped achieving their dream of home ownership through the Choctaw Nation Lease-to-Purchase program along with investing $8.1 million towards housing repairs to more than 1,500 households and installing 442 storm shelters.

The Choctaw Nation also spent $259 million in 2019 to support healthcare, recorded nearly one million patient encounters, administered over 20,990 flu-shots and dispensed more than 1.5 million prescriptions. The tribe's 13 wellness centers also recorded more than 442,000 visits.

According to the report, the area's two largest community development projects in 2019 were helped funded by the Choctaw Development Fund, McAlester's streetscape enhancement project and the Stigler sports complex.

"Additionally, the Tribe has recycled over 4.1 million pounds of material, contributed over $1.6 million to cities and counties from the Choctaw Community Partnership Fund and through joint projects, the tribe provided more than $5.9 million in assistance to resurface or construct roadways," the report states.

Batton said the tribe is proud to have such a large impact to the area and the state.

"We're proud to be tribal members and do what we do for our tribal members and we're proud to be Oklahomans to help out our fellow neighbors," said Batton.

The chief said although the tribe has been focused on revitalizing culture, growth, and opportunities for tribal members, the tribe is also focused on the wealth and stability of the Choctaw Nation.

"We have invested more than $183 million in new projects, including community centers, food distribution centers, wellness centers, health care facilities, housing and Choctaw-owned businesses," said Batton. "We have supported job creation through economic development partnerships with others in the community and expanded social service programs to improve the lives of tribal members."

Some examples Batton gave of development was renovations to the tribe's Pocola casino, a laundromat service in Hugo, a new head start building in Durant with numerous capitalization projects and other economic endeavors planned.

The chief said the tribe is poised and ready to continue bringing positive change to the tribe and the state.

"We are a vibrant and strong government committed to living out our faith, family and culture," said Batton. "I hope you share in my enthusiasm as we continue to look to the future for our Chahta people."

Contact Derrick James at djames@mcalesternews.com