Claremont gambling spike nets $262K for charities

Despite a disastrous outlook a year ago, charitable gambling administered by the Claremont Area Chamber showed a substantial increase in 2025.

Chamber President Dean Schuette reported Claremont had gambling sales of $8.5 million in 2025, which led to charitable donations throughout the region of $262,197, up almost $40,000 from the previous year. The organization paid $395,398 in state taxes.

A year ago, Schuette sounded the horn about how he feared Indian gaming would cut into Claremont’s gaming profits when state law changes went into effect in January 2025. However, things backfired on the tribes and local gaming did not suffer. In fact, Claremont finished “considerably higher” by posting an increase of about $300,000.

“People are spending more money where they know it stays local,” said Schuette, who has served as top leader of the Chamber for 27 years. He added people don’t like going to the Indian casinos.

Claremont offers gambling at five locations: BP Tavern & Offsale in Blooming Prairie, Claremont Pub, Harold’s Club in Dodge Center, Dodge Center Country Club and Dodge Center Legion. A sixth location, Spurgeon’s in Hope, has been added this year. Schuette said Harold’s was added in 2025 after they approached the Chamber because “they saw the donations we were making on the local level.”

In 2025, more than 110 organizations throughout Dodge and Steele counties shared $262,000. Of that amount, Triton School District received $122,000. Schuette is particularly proud of what the Chamber is able to offer Triton. “That’s a terrific amount to Triton. We want to support the school and the kids,” he said. “We are making a big impact in the local area, especially with the school,” he added.

In addition to serving the local Chamber, Schuette is also a director with Allied Charities of Minnesota, which acts as an advocate and resource for licensed charities engaged in lawful gambling. Schuette said the state group is seeking to get some tax relief from state lawmakers as he finds it troubling that the local organization pays out more to the state in taxes than what it is able to donate to local groups.

“It’s just nuts,” Schuette says. “We are a nonprofit helping out other charities and more of our money is going to help out the State of Minnesota,” he said, noting legislators really have no appetite to make any changes. “They are raking in a lot of dollars and taking money away from our youth and veterans.”

Charities pay one of the highest tax rates to Minnesota at 33.5%, according to Schuette.

He is not hopeful much will change with the state this year, especially with the $9 billion of fraud facing Minnesota. However, one area Schuette hopes to see some movement on is a 1982 law pertaining to meat raffles. Currently, there is a limit of $2 per ticket for meat raffles in which only half can be spent on prizes. He points out how much meat prices have changed dramatically in recent years.

Schuette, who testified last month at the State Capitol on the issue, wants to see the meat raffle ticket prices increased to $5. “It would be a small change, but meat raffles fill the seats in establishments,” he said. “It’s a way to help generate other streams of revenue.”

For Schuette, Claremont’s gambling fund brings a source of great pride. “We are helping out other groups that don’t have other places to turn to,” he said. “Other groups simply don’t have the ability to have the impact that we do.”

He went as far to say that some groups wouldn’t exist without funding from Claremont.

“We are trying to do the right thing for the right reasons,” he added.