Reports conducted in 2010 and 2015 have found that the Bandon, Ore., resort impacts Coos County through jobs, direct and induced tax support, spending on locally supplied goods and services, and philanthropic and community development work. From 2010 to 2014, rounds at the resort increased 64%, with golfers playing more and staying longer.

Bandon Dunes Golf Resort’s popularity and widespread praise for providing some of the world’s best courses have brought thousands of people—and millions of their dollars—to the South Coast over its 16-year history. This has helped Bandon Dunes to become one of Coos County’s greatest economic boosters in terms of payroll, taxes and a host of indirect economic benefactors, the Coos Bay, Ore., World Newspaper reported.

Its financial success, combined with the owner’s atypical philanthropic notions, have allowed this seemingly isolated resort to play a major role in community and economic development efforts along the entire South Coast, the World reported.

A vision of building a golf course that would rival any from the Old Country helped highlight the small town of Bandon as a destination, and that has helped a struggling region find an economic toehold on its way to recovery, the World reported.

Bandon Dunes owner Mike Keiser wasn’t always a respected golf baron. His initial success came from green greeting cards. While he played the world’s top courses, many were private clubs. Keiser believed every golfer should have the opportunity to play the greatest courses, and the seed for a new business venture was planted, the World reported.

At first glance, the resort has little impact on local communities. Golfers come to play golf, not hit local shops, hotels or restaurants, the World reported.

“Our customers are not tourists,” said Hank Hickox, general manager and vice president of KemperSports, which oversees the resort’s operations. “They focus on golf. They come from all the U.S. and the world to find golf courses. They’re not here to shop, maybe they’ll go off to have a meal. But they’re here to play, have dinner and sleep.”

In 2010, resort officials commissioned the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business to study its effects on the local economy. A follow-up report released November 2015. The 2010 report said that the resort, referred to as BDGR, serves as a “key catalyst in the region’s ambitions to strengthen its tourism economy to offset reductions in the forestry and fishing industries,” the World reported.

The resort impacts Coos County through jobs, direct and induced tax support, and spending on locally supplied goods and services, the report noted. The report also reviewed the resort’s philanthropic and community development work, the World reported.

“As we began to learn about the BDGR’s various community grant and scholarship programs, environmental stewardship initiatives and collaborative economic development efforts, it was easier to make the case BDGR was emerging as a key catalyst and good business citizen for the South Coast,” the report said.

Business at Bandon Dunes resort has increased. In 2014, the total rounds played reached nearly 147,000, an increase of 64% compared to 2010. Golfers are playing more, and are staying longer; the average stay has grown from 2.4 days to 2.94 days. Residents from California, Oregon, Washington, Texas and Illinois are the top spenders. Oregonians also tend to inhabit the resort during the off season, racing to the course during breaks between winter storms, the World reported.

The Bandon Dunes resort is the top employer in the county, topping second highest employer Bay Area Hospital. In terms of payroll, resort employees earned $16.7 million, an increase of 60% compared to 2010, the World reported.

A notable change, however, is that the resort is shifting its employee base from mostly part-time workers to more full-time employees, who have full benefits. Less than 20% of workers are part-time. In early June, the resort employed 543 workers; of those, 449 were full time. This is in addition to about 300 caddies, who are independent contractors. The average compensation package is $33,351 a year, 5% more than the average wage in Coos County, according to the Oregon 2014 Employment and Payroll Report.

“There are no minimum wage jobs here,” Hickox said. “An example: The servers keep their gratuity, which at this time of day (at about 2 p.m. on a weekday) averages about $10 an hour. Plus they get benefits—medical, dental and vision.”

In terms of taxes, Bandon Dunes paid more than $741,000 in property taxes in 2015—the highest taxpayer in the county, topping second-place PacifiCorp, which paid $472,000. The resort pays an additional $160,000 in taxes through the statewide lodging tax. Coos County does not impose a transient occupancy tax on unincorporated areas in the county, the World reported.

What’s more, resort officials felt they simply weren’t paying enough, so they decided to add an “assessment” to their fees and pay that money to the county, the World reported.

“Mr. Keiser believes in leaving a legacy for his two sons to take over,” Hickox said. “His views may be different than a normal business practitioner, but it’s good for the community. We’re the biggest generator for the overnight lodging tax. If our customers are charged this assessment, then other entities won’t have to tax their customers.”

Details are still being worked out, but Hickox said an independent board of 13 members will be set up to oversee the funding distribution. The money is designated to go toward the jail and county sheriff’s offices. Coos, Douglas and Curry counties will benefit. In 2014, the resort also spent nearly $7.9 million on goods and services with local vendors, up 74% compared to 2010. This does not include expenditures of less than $10,000, the World reported.

Bandon Dunes officials have worked with local business owners so the resort could contract for local services such as laundry, transportation and various supplies. They contract with Raindance Laundry to wash sheets and towels and the like, and with Face Rock Creamery to provide cheese for the restaurants, the World reported.

“We very much want to serve local products,” Hickox said. “We’d serve local grass-fed beef if we had a USDA inspection plant here, which we’re working on.”

The resort also works to be a partner within the community, even if the product or service doesn’t seem to directly benefit the resort’s bottom line, the World reported.

“Through job creation and tax contributions alone, BDGR emerges as a key champion of the South Coast’s current and future economic growth,” according to the University of Oregon report. “With that long-term vision in mind, BDGR has also engaged in what appears to be an authentic and mission-driven effort to support the region well beyond job and tax growth through a series of comprehensive community engagement initiatives.”

The resort’s community support is done through the Oregon Community Fund and through the Wild Rivers Coast Alliance. In 2014, the fund paid $410,500 to 53 organizations, a budget that has been fairly steady since 2009, according to the university report. Grants support initiatives to help children and families, civic engagement, arts and culture, economic vitality, and education, the World reported.

“We’ve got 900 people working here,” Hickox said. “To have these facilities available to our team members is an advantage to them and to the community. We have common goals.”

In addition, the resort has also contributed an average of $200,000 of in-kind donations over the years. This includes waiving green fees, room nights and other credits to help with fundraising for community groups. Resort officials also worked with United Airlines to provide seasonal direct flights from Denver, Colo., to North Bend’s Southwest Oregon Regional Airport. The resort pledged more than $900,000 to support this route, the World reported.

In 2015, Wild Rivers Coast Alliance distributed nearly $625,000 to various projects and efforts along the South Coast. The nonprofit has distributed nearly $2.2 million in grants since its inception in 2011. Keiser offered all the proceeds from one of his courses, the Bandon Preserve, to fund the grants. The resort pays for the WRCA’s facilities, staffing and other expenses, the World reported.

Some results, according to the University of Oregon report: 29 stream miles restored and enhanced; 24 direct jobs supported by grants; and nearly $753,000 raised in matching funds. “This will grow independent of us,” Hickox said. “This much of a nucleus, other funding sources will join you, like the Ford Family Foundation and others are already matching these funds.”