TRIBAL ENTERPRISES
The Chehalis Tribe’s Bold Business Moves Create Jobs and Opportunities in South Thurston County
by Heidi Smith • Photos by Nate Burgher courtesy of the Thurston Economic Development Council
It’s March of 2022 and Chehalis Tribal Enterprises (CTE) CEO David Burnett has just heard some good news. As of this month, all Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in Western Washington will be offering Talking Cedar beer, a product of the brewing arm of the Tribe’s multiple business operations. Considering the brewery opened in a crowded and highly competitive market less than two years earlier, that’s an accomplishment. 12 I
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Breaking into an industry in which they had no previous experience is just the latest in a series of bold choices the Tribe has made over the past two decades. In 2008, CTE developed an agreement with Great Wolf Resorts to build a 39-acre water park, conference center and resort in Grand Mound. “They were trying to establish a relationship between a Tribal government and a publiclytraded company and merge them into
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a business,” says Burnett, adding with dry understatement, “That was fairly interesting.” Great Wolf Resorts owns 49% of the company and the Chehalis Tribe owns 51%. Today Great Wolf Lodge employs 516 people, a return to pre-pandemic staffing levels. The Tribe also operates Lucky Eagle Casino, Eagles Landing Hotel, End of the Trail Gas Station, Burger Claim Restaurant, Eagle RV Park, Flying J thurstonchamber.com
