Making Great Strides in Economic Growth, Development and Diversification

Guest Commentary

Published April 15, 2019

Our tribal government is the sole owner, or shareholder, of Cherokee Nation Businesses. CNB is not just the economic engine of Cherokee Nation, but for all of northeast Oklahoma. Together, the tribe and its business arm create an annual economic impact of $2.03 billion within the region. As a strong force behind Cherokee Nation’s success and financial stability, CNB reinvests all of its profits into supporting critical services and programs for our people – health care, education and housing – as well as into training, educating and employing tribal citizens and further developing our businesses.

It’s our mission to continue growing our businesses and to help further the economy of the Cherokee Nation. We are focused on our employees and their well-being, as well as that of their families. Through competitive salaries and competitive benefit packages, we strive to be an employer of choice. Our employees, almost 75 percent Native American, are the key to our continued success.

Chief Bill John Baker

There are many aspects of CNB that may be surprising to people. We’ve earned a billion dollars in revenue in each of the last three years. With more than 7,000 CNB employees, we are able to have a business presence in 47 states, 25 countries and two U.S. territories. Our revenues are diverse: 57 percent comes from gaming and 43 percent comes fromdiversified businesses, where we are experiencing rapid growth. These opportunities mean CNB can continue building its support of essential tribal services while providing citizens with additional employment options throughout many successful industries.

CNB’s stellar performance and developing partnerships with both government and commercial clients in advancing industries such as information technology, construction, health care and consulting as well as engineering and manufacturing resulted in more than $421 million in revenue last year alone. Our teams of experts in contracting, service and technical industries keep CNB at the forefront of exciting changes all over the world, but diversifying our businesses would have never been possible without our success as a market leader in entertainment and hospitality.

Bill John Baker is the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.