The casino, an enterprise of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, started looking about a year ago for a partner to advance the leadership development program even further, ultimately selecting Muskegon Community College. “One thing that we noticed related to succession is we had some gaps and we had some leadership culture things that we needed to work on,” Israel told Tribal Business News. Israel Stone, organizational development director at the casino, said the new program builds off a five-year old internal effort Little River developed to advance frontline candidates toward a leadership or supervisory position within the organization. The new two-year program, which launches in January 2021, will provide an immersive educational experience for Little River Casino employees to find their best fit within the organization while also earning an associate degree to advance their skills in that area. The Little River Casino Resort has forged a new partnership with Muskegon Community College to create a new management development program tailored to the needs of casino operations and infused with tribal culture and history.
