Oneida Indian Nation Capital Projects, Vendor and Team Member Investments Exceeded $700 Million in 2024

Investments in team members grew significantly in payroll, healthcare and 401(k) retirement plan contributions.

Oneida Indian Nation Homelands (January 27, 2025) – The Oneida Indian Nation today announced a historic economic impact for 2024 with investments in its team members, capital projects and supply chain exceeding $700 million. These major investments in the Nation’s team, enterprises, and business partners represent dramatic increases that include a nearly 30 percent increase in capital investments, a 21 percent increase in spending with New York State vendors and an approximately 14 percent growth in pay and benefits for our team members.

2024 by the Numbers

During the last year, the Oneida Indian Nation’s extensive investments in its enterprises, team and Upstate New York included:

• Increased capital project spending by $29,257,718 ($129,562,600 total)
• Increased spending with New York State vendors by $45,569,291 ($263,909,435)
• Increased investments in payroll, healthcare benefits and 401(k) retirement plan contributions by $37,094,011 ($306,737,647 total)

In addition to investments in wages, healthcare and retirement savings benefits, the Oneida Indian Nation offers team members a range of innovative career advancement programs, including tuition reimbursement, scholarships, training schools, paid on-the-job training and more. In 2022, the Nation also created the first-of-its-kind affordable team housing development in Upstate New York, The Villages at Stoney Creek, which offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with below-market rents, spacious floor plans and free transportation to and from work.

Investing In New York State and Local Businesses

Among its spending with New York State vendors, the Nation also expanded investments with vendors across the tri-county area, which grew to $161,088,227 in 2024, a 13 percent increase over 2023 with $27,594,731 for Oneida County vendors, $4,244,141 for Madison County vendors and $129,249,355 for Onondaga County vendors.

As these investments grew in 2024, so did the network of partnerships between the Oneida Indian Nation and state and regional vendors. Last year, the Nation invested with:

• 1,346 New York State vendors
• 813 vendors across the tri-county region
• 289 Oneida County vendors
• 137 Madison County vendors
• 387 Onondaga County vendors

These numbers will continue to grow in 2025 as the Oneida Indian Nation awards a variety of contracts to businesses throughout Upstate New York for the Turning Stone Evolution. In November, the Nation announced awards to 26 initial subcontractors to support construction of the new Grand Expo, The Crescent Hotel and a new parking garage.

“We know that if you are not moving forward, you are moving backward. Continuous investment is the only way to sustain that momentum,” said Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation Representative and Turning Stone Enterprises CEO. “We are proud to reinvest all of our proceeds in Central New York and the Oneida people, by building on investments in our people, our enterprises, our team and the region’s business community year after year.”

This level of investment follows explosive diversification and growth across Turning Stone Enterprises, the parent organization for all of the Oneida Indian Nation’s business operations. Just a few of the initiatives currently underway across the Nation’s enterprises include:

• The Turning Stone Evolution, a $370 million investment in the largest expansion of Turning Stone Resort Casino in two decades that will double the resort’s existing conference and events spaces and add a new hotel, restaurant, indoor parking garage and outdoor spaces, and an on-site medical center for team members, their families and guests
• A $50 million expansion at Point Place Casino that will double its casino and create a new 100-room hotel, event space, restaurant and other amenities
• The expansion of Verona Collective, with two new dispensaries opening in Sherrill and Chittenango after the launch of its first two locations in 2024 and plans for two additional dispensaries before the end of 2025

As the Oneida Indian Nation’s enterprises continue to grow and evolve, so too will its role in economic development and job creation in Upstate New York. Investments in capital projects, vendor spending and its workforce will continue at historic rates in 2025, building on the Nation’s more than $1 billion annual economic impact and contributing to the economic foundation for everyone who lives and works in the region.

About the Oneida Indian Nation

The Oneida Indian Nation is a federally recognized Indian nation in Central New York. A founding member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (also known as the Six Nations or Iroquois Confederacy), the Oneida Indian Nation sided with the Americans in the Revolutionary War and was thanked by Congress and President George Washington for its loyalty and assistance. Today, the Oneida Indian Nation consists of about 1,000 enrolled Members, most of them living in Central New York. The Nation’s enterprises, which employ more than 4,500 people, include Turning Stone Resort Casino, YBR Casino & Sports Book, Point Place Casino, The Lake House at Sylvan Beach, The Cove at Sylvan Beach, Maple Leaf Markets, SāvOn Convenience stores, Verona Collective, a seed-to-sale cannabis operation, RV Park, and marinas. Proceeds from these enterprises are used to rebuild the Nation’s economic base and provide essential services, including housing, health care, and education incentives and programs, to its Members.