By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Writer
TULALIP — While some Snohomish County workers might be ringing in the recession blues this holiday season, Tulalip tribal members and employees will be enjoying their share of a $3.3 million bonus package.
Tribal leaders decided to give out the bonuses for the first time this year to reward good work. But leaders also believe that sharing profits will contribute to the overall economy of Snohomish County in a trickle-down way.
"This year we wanted to keep our employees and tribal members happy, and we were in a fortunate position to allocate these bonuses," Les Parks, business chairman for the Tulalip board of directors, said Tuesday.
"We’re in somewhat of a recession, and we want to do our part in north Snohomish County to keep the wheels going," Parks said.
Mel Sheldon, services chairman for the board, agreed.
"We’re very happy for all of our employees and want to make Christmas better and better for the surrounding community," Sheldon said.
For 10-year tribal employee Sharon Morken, a single mother with two children at home, the bonus means a shot in the arm to her savings account.
"It’s extra money I didn’t think of," said Morken, a 49-year-old administrative assistant in government affairs. "It will be for emergencies, car repairs and unexpected stuff, and it sure will come in handy."
The bonus package is divided into three categories: bonuses for casino employees, government employees and tribal members.
The bulk of the bonus package is being paid for out of gaming revenues. The Tulalips operate a casino just west of I-5 near Marysville and are in the process of building a new $72 million casino just north of the old one.
The 850 casino employees will share $1.7 million of the package. Those bonuses will be distributed based on merit, with an average bonus for those employees of about $2,000.
The 471 government employees will share $550,000 of the package. Those bonuses will be handed out based on tenure of employment. On average, each government employee will receive about a $1,170 bonus.
In addition, each tribal member will receive a one-time bonus of $500. That money is coming out of the tribe’s natural resources fund, which includes old timber holdings, said John McCoy, the tribe’s government affairs executive director.
All bonuses are taxable, McCoy said. Tribal board members are included in the bonus plan.
"The reason we’re giving bonuses this year is that the employees have done a good job over the last year and worked exceptionally hard, and they will be duly rewarded," McCoy said Monday.
McCoy said tribal leaders will evaluate the bonus plan by measuring how employees respond over the next year before deciding whether bonuses will be handed out in 2002.
"In any society or in any corporation, sometimes bonuses work, and sometimes they don’t," McCoy said. "You never know what’s going to inspire an employee."
Handing out bonuses in 2002 also will depend on the Tulalips’ financial success. So far, the Tulalips have been a financial powerhouse, with a diversified economy that includes gaming, timber holdings and Quil Ceda Village, a business park that boasts Wal-Mart and Home Depot as tenants.
"A recession in any one of those fields doesn’t hit us as hard as the Boeing Co.," McCoy said. "A big part of their life was aircraft sales, and when they slow down, their economy slows. We recognized that early on that when we got into gaming — we had to go into diversifying as much as possible so no one recession could hurt us."
Board member Parks concurred, saying the casino might be the tribe’s bread and butter, but Quil Ceda Village, with its lucrative lease program to national retailers, will rival gaming profits in the near future.
"We’ll be making $12 million to $15 million a year just with the leasing," Parks said.
Still, tribal members such as Morken and others can’t ignore the bittersweet feeling the bonuses bring. Though tribal members are getting extra money this holiday season, others around Snohomish County are getting pink slips.
"The bonuses will really help this holiday season — all businesses and families," Morken said. "And I know Boeing used to give bonuses before, and now they are laying people off, and this is a turnaround. So we’re lucky."
You can call Herald Writer Theresa Goffredo at 425-339-3097
or send e-mail to goffredo@heraldnet.com.
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