February 26, 2018
Ms. Jennifer Wade
Environmental Science Associates
2600 Capitol Ave, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95816
Re: San Manuel Hotel, Casino and Parking Expansion
Dear Ms. Wade:
Inland Action would like to express its support of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians’ hotel, casino and parking expansion. Inland Action is a non-profit organization of business and community leaders dedicated to the economic and community betterment of the Southern California region. Vibrant economic development is crucial to the resurgence of Inland Southern California. As a region with a population greater than the state of Oregon, it is important that our businesses evolve and expand. One such organization is the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
San Manuel is unique in our area. It is at once a federally recognized sovereign Indian nation with its own government, a prominent community partner, a generous philanthropist and a thriving enterprise. Since 2016, San Manuel has increased its number of employees from over 4,000 to nearly 4,500 workers, with an estimate of 70 percent of those employees coming from within San Bernardino County. Its economic impact to San Bernardino County alone is estimated at more than $1 billion. The new expansion holds the promise of 1,400 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs that span a broad variety of education and skill sets. As a community partner, San Manuel has a proven record of philanthropy that reaches across education, health care, community service, infrastructure, public safety, and the arts.
Members of our organization have had the opportunity to learn about the Tribe’s proposed hotel, casino and parking expansion; and we support the effort. To that end, the Tribe has provided briefings on their project and shared the results of their environmental impact report studies with government agencies, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and the public. We believe that the project will not have significant impacts on the off-Reservation environment after the proposed mitigation.
Inland Action would like to add its support for the San Manuel expansion project and the numerous economic benefits it will bring our region.
Sincerely,
Deborah Barmack
President