Star Tribune – By September, the frayed-edged Crowne Plaza Hotel on St. Paul’s downtown Mississippi riverfront will reopen as the overhauled and gleaming InterContinental St. Paul-Riverfront, two years after the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe acquired it and the nearby DoubleTree by Hilton for about $35 million from an absentee owner.
“Gambling has matured,” said Joe Nayquonabe, CEO of Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, the tribal-business holding company that operates casino and non-casino businesses.
Nayquonabe also trades on “handshake,” personal relationships in business. He is a graduate of St. Cloud State University. So are Ben Graves and his father, Jim, founder of Graves Hospitality who met Nayquonabe at an awards ceremony at St. Cloud.