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News Briefs

Date Posted: September 11 2009

Groundbreaking set for Gun Lake Casino

To the surprise of many, on Sept. 2 the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe, suddenly announced it would break ground September 17th for the first phase of the Gun Lake Casino, in Wayland Township.

The move came after a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Interior’s taking into trust 147 acres in Wayland Township intended for a native American operating casino was dismissed.

Originally a 193,000 square foot casino was planned. Phase one is to encompass an 83,000 square foot facility that’s estimated to cost $157 million. Serving as construction manager is to be the Portage office of Skanska USA Inc.

“Given the current economic conditions,” said D.K. Sprague, the tribal chairman, “it makes sense for us to build this project in phases. This will allow us to bring jobs to our area sooner, and we look forward to planning and developing the next phase as the economy recovers.”

The casino is to be located at a site at US-131 and 129th Avenue, near Bradley, midway between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo. It’s to be operated by MPM Enterprises LLC, owned by an affiliate of Station Casinos of Las Vegas, Nevada, and private investors from Michigan.

Construction is expected to take from 10 to 12 months and provide 750 skilled trades jobs.

(From Michigan Construction News.com)

PLA seminar set for Oct. 12 at MSU

The Michigan State University School of Labor and Industrial Relations is sponsoring a conference titled “Building Success: Best Practices in Construction Project Labor Agreements” that may be of interest to union officers.

The conference will be held Monday, Oct. 12 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, Lincoln Room, on the MSU campus.

Agenda items include speakers who will address “What do you want in a PLA,” PLAs in schools and other public owners,” “PLAs and the open shop,”  Dispute resolution under PLAs, and panel discussions addressing “Where to begin?” and “Perspectives on PLAs,” that includes guest Peter Phillips from the University of Utah.

A registration form and further information can be found on the web atwww.lir.msu.edu/jump/conferences.php. Or call 517-355-1801.