Published May 2003

Casino a catalyst
for tourism market

This month, the Snohomish County Business Journal publishes a special 20-page section, an indepth look at the Tulalip Tribes’ new $72 million casino that’s due to open June 5 (see special section).

But many observers see that event as much more than simply the arrival of a larger and glitzier version of the tribes’ present casino.

They see the giant new Tulalip Casino as the beginning of the transformation of north Snohomish County into a regional Pacific Northwest tourism destination on a scale unimaginable only a few years ago.

The first step is opening the casino, the next is the new hotel adjacent to the casino, followed in the next several years by a second hotel and conference center, an amusement park and a water park.

By the time the entertainment and recreation center is finished, it will be surrounded by dozens more stores than today’s Wal-Mart, Home Depot and the neighborhood shopping center that also houses the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce. By then, there also will be discount outlet stores, high-end retailers, restaurants, banks and a variety of other facilities.

But the feasibility of that vision really begins with the new casino, the economic engine that will power the development of the rest of Quil Ceda Village’s business and retail park and the creation of the entertainment attractions that will perpetuate the Tulalips’ dream.

In so many ways, their dream is — or should be — the dream of the rest of the 600,000 residents of Snohomish County, a population that is expected to surpass the 1 million mark within the next 20 years. Most of those people can recognize the need for a healthy, diversified local economy that provides a broad tax base and an increase in jobs that matches the future growth in job seekers.

Not only will Quil Ceda Village provide a major employment center itself, it also will spur economic development in Marysville, Arlington, Stanwood, Darrington and Granite Falls.

“We see the new casino as the catalyst for an entirely new market for economic development for Snohomish County,” said Caldie Rogers, president and CEO of the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce. “It will be a market that’s tourism-based, a market that will impact the whole area. We should be thankful for the tribes’ unfailing willingness to invite their neighbors to get into this economic canoe with them.”

Once again, the Tulalip Tribes deserve congratulations for having the courage to take economic risks, for being able to dream dreams and for being able to have the vision to accomplish those dreams.

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