Tribe profits from status

By Tony Thornton
Published: July 13, 2006

ARDMORE - Once again, Oklahoma's unique land status has blessed the Chickasaw Nation.

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Chickasaw businesses
While this project in volves the Chickasaw Nation leasing the land to Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. for an MG plant, the tribe has di verse business inter ests, including:

Bedre Chocolates: Bedre makes fine choc olates. Its largest cus tomer is Nieman- Marcus.

KADA Radio: Bought in 1994, KADA AM & FM are the only sta tions licensed to Ada, broadcasting music and sports pro gramming.

Travel plazas: The tribe owns plazas in Ada, Davis, Kingston, Paoli, Thackerville and Wilson.

Tobacco stores: The tribe owns stores in Ada, Ardmore, Madill, Marlow, Norman and Tishomingo.

Gaming centers: The Chickasaw Nation has centers in Ada, Ard more, Davis, Duncan, Kingston, Madill, New castle, Norman, Paoli, Thackerville and Wil son.

Bank2: The former Chickasaw Bank Hold ing Co. was formed in March 2001.

Artesian Hotel: The Chickasaws have planned a hotel on the site of the fomer Chick asaw Lodge.

McSwain Theater: The 1920s theater is under renovation. Ren ovation plans include restoring the facade and interior and putting in seating for 525.

Community Garden: The Chickasaw Nation Horticulture Depart ment was created in March 2002 to sell cut flowers, fresh vege tables, hanging bas kets and landscaping services.

Chickasaw Nation Industries: This is a federally chartered tribal business corpora tion to promote eco nomic development. Its assets include an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Marietta. Its products include airport baggage conveyor systems and mail carts.

Source: www.chickasaw.net

The tribe's proximity to Interstate 35 -- the highway runs through five of 12 counties in the tribe's jurisdictional area -- has prompted construction of several casinos that made the Chickasaws rich the past five years.

Flush with gamblers' money, the Chickasaws are buying more land near I-35 and entering the international trade realm.

A Chinese automaker will revive the British sports car brand MG on land the tribe plans to purchase next to the Ardmore Airpark.

Neal McCaleb, a consultant for the Chickasaw Nation, sees that arrangement as the first of many as the tribe seeks to establish a manufacturing and distribution hub in southern Oklahoma to rival the Alliance Airport area, north of Fort Worth, Texas.

"It's not just a vision. It's a plan," McCaleb said.

The interstate, a nearby railway, an abundance of cheap land and the tax advantages of partnering with a tribe make southern Oklahoma an attractive alternative to the Metroplex, McCaleb said.

This diversification is made possible by the Dawes Act of 1887, which eliminated Oklahoma's reservations and carved up tribal land into individual allotments.

However, a tribe can buy land anywhere within its former reservation and ask the federal government to put it into trust for the tribe's benefit.

That gives the tribe immense advantages for economic development.

Marc Nuttle, an attorney, political consultant and longtime friend of McCaleb, saw those advantages, McCaleb said.

Nuttle formed Oklahoma Sovereign Development LLC, and bought 675 acres near the Ardmore Airpark. McCaleb said the tribe has an option to buy "a substantial portion" of that parcel, including the land on which Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. will employ 325 workers to assemble two-seat MG TF coupes.

"MG became a target of opportunity," he said.

U.S. Rep. Tom Cole, a Chickasaw Nation member, was instrumental in getting visas for a Chinese delegation including Yu Jianwei, president of Nanjing Motors, to tour the proposed site, McCaleb said.

While none of the Oklahomans went to China, McCaleb said Nuttle toured MG's former plant at Birmingham, England, after Nanjing Motors bought it.

Nanjing Motors also was considering a site in Alabama, McCaleb said.

The tribe will pay for infrastructure improvements, including water and sewer installation and road paving. Terms of its lease with the company aren't final, he said.

McCaleb said he's unaware of any other partnership of this scale, in which a tribe's sole role was to acquire land for a corporation.

The tribe has a head start in establishing a warehouse distribution district. Electronics chains Circuit City and Best Buy already have distribution centers on I-35 at Ardmore, as does Dollar General. Twenty miles south, Dollar Tree has one in Marietta.

McCaleb said all had one common denominator: Wes Stuckey, head of the Ardmore Development Authority.

Assuming the Chickasaws are able to put the airpark land into federal trust, it will be exempt from property taxes. McCaleb said the tribe typically makes "in-lieu-of" payments to schools and other entities that receive ad valorem taxes.

Asked how that will work in this case, he said, "Let's get the industry here before we divide the spoils."

He said jobs created by the car plant will result in income and other taxes far exceeding what property taxes another owner would have paid.

Building on trust land also would put the plant under the jurisdiction of tribal and federal courts, rather than state courts, McCaleb said.

However, he said it's possible the company may ask that the land not be put into trust so state law would prevail.

Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby said the tribe's role in the automaker's decision stems from "our long-term strategy to create economic opportunity and employment within the boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation."