“Mesabi is Magic.”

People who live on the Mesabi Range or have visited the region, already know how magical it is.

However, the Iron Range Tourism Bureau wants even more people to understand the vast quantity and quality of tourism-related activities on the Mesabi Range.

“Mesabi is Magic” - a new media campaign aimed at promoting the Mesabi Iron Range as a tourism destination – officially kicks off in January. The campaign, including billboards, print, digital and social media, showcases Mesabi Iron Range history, recreational activities, culture, language, and food. 

“Mesabi - Isn't that Ojibwe for ‘Heaven’?” is one of the taglines that will be displayed within a scenic photo on one of three billboards along I-35 north between the Twin Cities and Iron Range. “Mom Always Wanted You to Go Outside and Play," scrolled across a photo of an all-terrain vehicle scene, will be another of the billboards.

Mining, ethnic foods, Iron Range history, sauna culture, polka, and Mesabi Iron Range dialect are other topics for all media forms within the campaign.     

“The campaign talks about who we are and about our personality,” Beth Pierce, Iron Range Tourism Bureau director, said of the campaign. “It’s something we hope has application for both tourism and for economic development.”

The campaign focuses on attracting more visitors from the Twin Cities area, southern Minnesota, surrounding states and Canada, said Pierce.

The Iron Range Tourism Bureau promotes travel that generates overnight lodging in the region and has economic impact to its service area. For additional information, visit www.ironrange.org.

Lights, camera, sweep!

“Curling Night in America,” a made-for-TV international curling event, is being filmed Dec. 3-5 at Curl Mesabi in Eveleth.

Produced by World Curling TV, nine shows filmed during the three-day competition will be broadcast on NBCSN beginning Friday, Jan. 8, from 10 p.m. to midnight eastern time.

Competition at Curl Mesabi begins at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 3, between Scotland, China, United States, and Japan. Games held on sheet five throughout the competition will be televised.

The event is open to the public. 

“I am very excited to host Curling Night in America at Curl Mesabi in Eveleth,” Phill Drobnick, on-site chairman for the event said in a USA Curling news release. “This is a great opportunity to have some of the best curlers in the world compete at our club. We will not only be able to showcase Curl Mesabi to curling fans on the Iron Range, but to the world as well."   

Filming is being supported in part from an IRRRB Film Production Inventive Grant and the World Curling Federation.

Companies across northeastern Minnesota can learn how to minimize wasteful steps, increase value, and streamline operations under a new program offered by Advanced Minnesota.

Lean/Six Sigma training, aimed at helping companies improve everyday business activities and profitability, is now available to companies of all sizes.

“Any company that wants to save money and wants to look at improving their processes should take advantage of this training,” said Trent Janezich, Advanced Minnesota executive director. 

Advanced Minnesota is a regional leader in providing a variety of training opportunities to business and industry.   

Under what’s called the Advanced Minnesota “Go LEAN!” Initiative, companies can choose from a variety of cost-saving training opportunities including Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt Certification, Kaizen events, Value Stream mapping and 6S/Workplace Organization.

The training is designed to help companies improve processes, reduce waste, improve efficiency, analyze data, and optimize productivity. 

“This training allows companies to look at eliminating waste and variation,” said Gail Anderson, certified Black Belt instructor with Advanced Minnesota. “Combining both methodologies can really affect a company’s bottom line.” 

IRRRB supported development of the Advanced Minnesota Lean/Six Sigma training program with a workforce development grant.

Read the full article.

IRRRB publishes a quarterly print edition of The Ranger newsletter in the Mesabi Daily News, Hibbing Daily Tribune and Grand Rapids Herald-Review. 

Article topics in the latest issue include:

• A new brotherhood: Merger of fire departments serves as model of community collaboration (Pictured)
• Starting the next chapter of success: Detroit Diesel Remanufacturing growing exponentially with expansion  
• Public, community leaders invited to listening sessions, a message from IRRRB Commissioner Mark Phillips

Read the print edition of The Ranger.

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