While some in Snohomish County made do with a leaner Christmas this year, Tulalip tribal members and employees got a holiday boost when leaders opted to hand out bonuses for the first time.
Some might feel a tinge of irony or even guilt at receiving such a boost, but they shouldn’t. In rough economic times, their gain is our gain. It might be a bit early to tally up final holiday cash register sales at businesses throughout the county, but it seems likely that at least some extra money made its way to local retailers in the final days before Christmas. We think some toy stores must have been helped by the bonuses since Tulalip Bingo &Casino officials replaced some toys that were stolen when a local church was broken into just days before Christmas.
Tribal leaders doled out a total of $3.3 million in bonuses to their members, casino employees and government employees. Every member received $500 and some casino workers got as much as $2,000. And bonuses are a possibility in 2002. It’s encouraging that the Tulalips are in a strong financial position to consider such a possibility.
The Tulalips deserve credit for building a solid, diversified economy. Granted, most of that comes from gaming and some from timber holdings, but the new business park, Quil Ceda Village, is helping to buffet blows caused by the recession.
As John McCoy, the tribe’s government affairs executive director pointed out, "A recession in any one of those fields doesn’t hit us as hard as the Boeing Co. … 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."
The ripple effect caused by recent layoffs has yet to really hit our local economy, experts say. Families suffering the loss of one or two incomes might not believe that. But economists say current unemployment woes won’t match the statewide recession of 1982.
Although Boeing isn’t the only show in town, it certainly is the biggest. Our area has benefited from the company’s generosity and the family-wage jobs it offers people here. But it’s also good to know that when times get tough for the giant aerospace company, the ripple effect doesn’t spread quite as far as it used to.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
