Winter is a magical season, full of adventure and possibility – for those who dare to brave the weather. To residents and visitors of the Grand Rapids, Minnesota region, the winter season provides opportunities for a variety of sports and outdoor activities. 

Visit Grand Rapids decided to captivate the nostalgia of the up north winter season through a destination marketing campaign to lure new visitors to the Grand Rapids area. 

Visit Grand Rapids is the destination marketing organization for the Grand Rapids area. Its mission is to promote a positive economic impact through travel and tourism. It conducts seasonal marketing campaigns that feature the uniqueness that Grand Rapids has to offer.

The Head North campaign, which kicked off in November, was created by Visit Grand Rapids staff and optimized through digital marketing by Art Unlimited, USA.

Melissa Nordberg, President of Visit Grand Rapids and Super 8 Manager, said, "This campaign will help us feature what is unique about the area regardless if Mother Nature cooperates with us or not.”  

The site for the winter campaign can be found at: www.visitgrandrapids.com/head-north. Featured is a comprehensive list of suggested activities to help visitors make the most of their time, whether they are in the Grand Rapids area for a short afternoon or for a weekend vacation.  

The Head North campaign runs through February 2016.

Range Regional Airport’s new terminal in Hibbing is up and running. 

The $18 million project included construction of a new $11.6 million terminal along with taxiway and apron improvements.

The first flight departed at 7 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 10. Erik Timpane, a captain with SkyWest Airlines and a native of Hibbing, piloted the first departure. 

IRRRB provided a Development Infrastructure grant for the project.

View a video featuring the new terminal.

Looking for a job or talented employees? 

NORTHFORCE can help.

NORTHFORCE, an online, hands-on talent matching tool that connects job seekers and employers, is focused on attracting, managing, placing, and enriching talent across northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

“We’re finding that high quality talent is one of the number one drivers of corporate expansion and relocation across the nation,” said Ian Vincent, NORTHFORCE marketing coordinator. “What we’re doing is bridging the gap between the employer and the candidate.”

People seeking a job can go to www.northforce.org to register and create a confidential career profile. NORTHFORCE will then, free of charge, help match the job seeker with a potential employer.

For employers, NORTHFORCE does the same, helping an employer find a prospective employee with the needed skills.

More than 70 Iron Range employers, offering jobs of all types, have job openings listed on the NORTHFORCE web site career center.

Launched in February 2014, NORTHFORCE also performs specialized recruitment services for employers and conducts targeted marketing research on a contract basis.

In October, NORTHFORCE kicked off a marketing campaign on northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin television stations. These video pieces featuring NORTHFORCE success stories and employer testimonials shot at successful businesses are also being distributed across the nation via social media. 

IRRRB, APEX: the Area Partnership for Economic Expansion, the Northspan Group, City of Duluth and City of Superior are development partners in NORTHFORCE.       

Read the full article.

Pictured above: Desiree Yourczek, Social Media and Account Manager at Art Unlimited and ReGen board member, is interviewed by Ian Vincent of NORTHFORCE and APEX.

The Giants Ridge Ski Patrol is featured in the holiday issue of Girlfriends magazine. 

Entitled "Women Power," the article spotlights the 18 female National Ski Patrol volunteers at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. The women, who range in age from 17 to 80, devote their free time to promote safe skiing and snowboarding attitudes to the public. They also provide emergency rescue and medical services to injured or ill patrons, skiers and snowboarders. 

Read the article.

Girlfriends magazine is now available at many businesses in the Virginia, Chisholm, Hibbing and Grand Rapids areas. The magazine is also available at the Adams Publishing Group newspapers on the Iron Range — Mesabi Daily News, Hibbing Daily Tribune, Chisholm Tribune Press and Grand Rapids Herald-Review.

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