After opening the Golden Mesa's doors in 2019, the Shawnee Tribe and its partners are celebrating another economic milestone: the expansion of its Panhandle casino. The addition to the casino includes an RV park, nearly 100 hotel rooms and an 80,000 square-foot gaming floor.
The investment has doubled the Golden Mesa employee workforce to 380 employees and will contribute to services for Shawnee tribal citizens. Chief of the Shawnee Tribe, Ben Barnes, said that is worth celebrating.
"All of the benefits and programs that these dollars go towards is things like behavioral health opportunities, substance abuse, rehab, scholarships, first-time homebuyer assistance [and] children's back-to-school programs," Barnes said. "We know that's only going to continue to grow as the tribe grows, and as this opportunity allows us to grow those programs."
Where Golden Mesa now stands off Highway 54 is the first land that was put into trust for the Shawnee Tribe, according to federal documents.
The tribe, headquartered in northeast Oklahoma, is landless, or without a reservation — making it even more substantial when the land in Guymon, which now houses the tribe's first and only casino-resort, was put into trust.
Bill Lance is the Secretary of State for the Chickasaw Nation, one of the partners on the project through Global Gaming Solutions. The company manages the operations at Golden Mesa Casino and Resort and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chickasaw Nation.
Lance recalled the casino's infancy when the Shawnee Chief at the time, Ron Sparkman, was trying to figure out where to build.
"We thought through it with what Chief Sparkman," Bill Lance said. "We knew that no other tribe had jurisdiction in that area. So we weren't going to receive any tribal opposition if we went into an area that was not a territory or reservation of another tribe. And we did some market studies and really determined Guymon could be a really good market for this facility."
The studies were right. The casino created 175 jobs and about $4 million in annual payroll, according to a statement from the Golden Mesa.
Guymon City Manager Mike Shannon called the facility a "dream come true" for the rural city.
"When you leave Guymon, headed west, what do you see?" Shannon asked. "We see the Golden Mesa Casino. And what I see as a city manager is economic development. People coming into our town, coming through our town, coming out here to enjoy this facility."
The grand opening of the Golden Mesa Casino and Resort took place last Friday and is now officially open to the public. All those who celebrated the opening — including Barnes, Shannon and Lance — said they are eager to continue the partnerships and economic growth that began years ago.
"It's going to allow us to plan growth for our future, not just for the next two to four years, but for the next generation," Barnes said. "Shawnee citizens will see their lives improved, but we also get to see that improvement here in the experiences and opportunities here in Texas County, out in the Panhandle [and] here in Guymon, Oklahoma."
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
