RIDGEFIELD — You may or may not know Corwin Beverage Co., but you’ve probably heard of its biggest customer.
Well, soon-to-be biggest customer.
Ilani Casino Resort, the $510 million gaming complex from the Cowlitz Tribe of Indians, will likely open this month. Construction started January 2016, and its massive rotunda has since loomed over Interstate 5, west of La Center.
Chris Workman, the marketing manager for the Ridgefield-based beverage distributor, said once it opens, the casino “will instantly become our No. 1 customer, as far as volume goes,” he said. “Overnight.”
Officials have teased that 4.5 million people could visit the casino annually, so businesses in nearby Ridgefield, La Center and Woodland hope to get caught in a rising economic tide. That’s why Corwin Beverage, a 75-year-old company, stands to reach new heights.
Workman, however, said the casino may benefit the whole region if visitors start exploring nearby towns.
“I can see the landscape changing for more business,” he said. “Just because of all the traffic headed to Ilani.”
At 368,000 square feet, the casino stands to pack a punch. It boasts 75 gaming tables, 1,200 slot machines, three retail shops and 15 restaurants. It is jointly developed by the Cowlitz Tribe and a subsidiary of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians in Connecticut.
With plans to build a 400-room hotel on the site in the next two years, many expect the casino to be at the epicenter of growth for northern Clark County.
Buckets of people
Ridgefield, sitting two miles south of the casino, seems particularly poised to capitalize on the flood of people.
The city has for years been among the fastest growing cities in Washington. It already houses a tourist attraction in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, and one of its streets leads practically to the casino’s doorstep.
Local businesses will at first compete with the casino’s shops and luxuries.
“We’re hopeful,” said Earleen Griswold, owner of Seasons Coffee. “If (visitors) venture out, they could find a cozy little shop to sit in.”
Mark Moore, owner of Buckets restaurant on Main Avenue, wouldn’t make any guesses about how sales would chart after the casino opens, but he said the city stands to thrive.
“The casino is a little bit of an unknown, but generally I think it’s going to be good for downtown Ridgefield,” he said. “I think it will be less good for businesses near the interstate, but I think we’re really positioned for growth in this community.”
City officials are conducting traffic studies to measure the impact before and after the casino’s opening. It’s still too soon to tell, City Manager Steve Stuart said.
“Once it gets up and going, I think we’ll all have a better sense of what the impacts are and how to adapt to them,” he said.
Besides a potential surge in tourism, the city could become home to many of the casino’s employees. The casino projects to hire over 1,000 people, some of whom will move from other parts of the country.
“Some of (the employees) will want to live in Ridgefield, and that’s great. We plan for that growth, and we welcome those people here,” Stuart said.
Pluses and minuses
While the casino could bolster the local service industry, it casts a large shadow on other gaming outfits.
New Phoenix Casino in La Center closed March 26, following the lead of Chips Casino, which closed in January 2014. The Palace Casino and Last Frontier Casino in La Center both remain. City officials planned the 2017 La Center budget anticipating that their number of casinos would fall from three to two, Mayor Greg Thornton said. In the 2017 budget, the city is planning to bring in $1,927,910 in tax revenue from the cardrooms this year, down from the projected $3,153,527 in 2016. That is more than $467,000 better than what the city planned for in its 2016 budget. The city’s cardrooms performed better than expected in 2015, giving the city a $240,000 budget surplus, as well.
City officials expect Ilani Casino Resort to have a negative impact on La Center’s 2017 and 2018 tax revenue. To make up the loss in expected tax revenue for the cardrooms this year, La Center will use some of its surplus from the last two years.
“We’re going to use that to try and keep things at status quo,” Thornton said.
The cardroom revenue goes into the general fund, and it used for a variety of city services, including safety and public works. City officials will start looking at possible reductions in staffing and/or services during the 2018 budget process, which starts in August.
Thornton said the way the city is looking to ride out any negative financial impacts the casino has on La Center is by evolving.
“The emphasis for the city of La Center is to put forth a real effort to expand our economic diversity, as well as expand our tax base,” Thornton said. “We’re doing that by going through the subarea master plan for the junction (at Interstate 5).”
Along with construction at the casino, the Cowlitz Tribe paid for $32 million in upgrades at the junction, including new offramps, a partial relocation of a few roads and a new freeway overpass. The new junction is designed to handle the estimated 4.5 million visitors expected to check out the new casino.
As part of the project, the Cowlitz are paying for development of a sewer line that stretches out to the city limits. The sewer line will allow the city to develop 150 acres of land sitting across Interstate 5 from the casino. The project is expected to go out to bid this month, and Thornton hopes it its completed by mid-summer.
“That will be the last component there for development,” Thornton said. “It’s critical we get that out there.”
The city hired a planning consultant to look into possible development ideas. At an open house in November, Eric Eisemann, a planning consultant working with the city, went over some design ideas for that land. One idea was to make it an outdoor shopping area, with restaurants, retail and viewpoints so residents can take in the natural beauty of the surrounding area. There was also talk of a shuttle service where guests could come into La Center, park there and take a ride over to Ilani Casino Resort. Those are all just ideas, though, and no plans are set right now.
Holding on
City officials just have to hope the other two cardrooms can hold on. Through a spokesman, owners said the cardrooms are hobbled as employees leave to take jobs at the Ilani Casino Resort. Futures are unclear for those cardrooms in La Center, as well as Lucky 21 Casino in Woodland. Woodland mayor Will Finn said the city renegotiated its contract with Lucky 21 due to an expected drop in revenue and the threat of losing employees.
“It’s really hard when there’s an employer up the road who is going to pay them $4 or $5 more an hour,” Finn said, adding that the casino has actually done well in recent months.
Even though those individual casinos seem vulnerable, the higher-wage jobs should benefit the region overall, according to Giacomo Santangelo, an economist with Fordham University in New York. With workers earning more money, there could be a net positive.
“Everyone will pay attention to the throngs of people, but they may not notice employees are spending more money because of their higher disposable income, because they have a better job,” he said.
That could be where local businesses reap most of their rewards, he said. Employees might not want to spend their wages at the casino where they work. The local cafe they visit might hire more staff, too.
“Having to hire more staff at the cafe, at the hotel, at your shop, there is going to be a spillover benefit you see there,” Santangelo said.
Anthony Sharrah, owner of 4th Street Bar & Grill and The Trellis, both in La Center, is excited to see what changes Ilani Casino Resort brings. He’s lived in La Center for 20 years and been a business owner there for the past 13.
“I’ve been here a long time. We’re a community of homeowners,” he said. “This is going to bring another element to our community. We live in a community where we don’t have a lot of residents who live in the community and work here. This can change that.”
He also thinks, or at least hopes, casino visitors venture out into the nearby cities.
“You can’t stop a train,” he said. “You’ve got to work with it and make the best of the situation.”
