\nKINGS MOUNTAIN (AP) \u2014 A South Carolina Indian tribe\u2019s effort to open a gambling casino in neighboring North Carolina is being spearheaded by a businessman with long ties to video poker, an industry lawmakers have long sought to outlaw.<\/p>\n
\tA company called Sky Boat LLC is working with the Catawba Indian Nation to build a casino that promises to bring 4,000 jobs to a site off Interstate 85 near Kings Mountain, The Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer of Raleigh reported. The company selected by Catawba leaders to operate a casino is led by 40-year-old Wallace Cheves, of Greenville, S.C., whose business activities have included video poker, riverboat gambling and other gambling ventures.<\/p>\n
\tNorth Carolina already has one Indian casino, owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee and operated by a major gambling company, Harrah\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\tThe Catawbas want to build the second after South Carolina laws blocked the tribe\u2019s effort to build a casino in its home state. The tribe continues to challenge the laws, including a case before South Carolina\u2019s Supreme Court last month.<\/p>\n
\tThe North Carolina effort about 30 miles northwest of the Catawbas reservation in Rock Hill, S.C., is on hold while the tribe seeks a decision by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs whether to place the property in trust.<\/p>\n
\tThe move is opposed by Gov. Pat McCrory, who doesn\u2019t want a compact with the tribe that would include the state receiving a share of the gambling revenue. More than 100 state House lawmakers have signed a letter opposing the casino.<\/p>\n
\tSky Boat last year hired Raleigh lobbyists to try and diminish the political opposition. They included the former executive director of the state Republican Party, his wife, and the former chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. Cheves said he will hire them again this year.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cOur background is not just video poker,\u201d Cheves said. \u201cIt\u2019s gaming. We have a lot of political background and have done a lot of consulting with other tribes. That\u2019s why (the Catawbas) chose our consortium of entrepreneurs, just as Harrah\u2019s was chosen by (the Eastern Band of Cherokee) because of their gaming background.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tCheves said he has secured financing for the casino with help from partners including former Merrill Lynch bankers.<\/p>\n
\tCatawba Chief Bill Harris said the tribe has been surprised by the backlash from Raleigh, where lawmakers have said they don\u2019t want an out-of-state tribe running a casino. The Catawbas counter that their tribal service area extends into six North Carolina counties.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cTheir quick opposition, I think, is what shocked the people in this community,\u201d Harris said. \u201cSomeone is coming in and going to place 4,000 jobs in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tBut the casino\u2019s ties to video poker and its successor, the sweepstakes industry, are raising more objections among state policymakers who have tried for more than a decade to outlaw them.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cVideo poker has been a source of corruption and a challenge for law enforcement in North Carolina, and it\u2019s troubling that this industry keeps looking for ways to expand its presence here,\u201d said Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat.<\/p>\n
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