BIWABIK – Below his snow-colored hair, the wide smile that spread across Duane Ramfjord’s face said it all. 

“It’s very nice,” Ramfjord said of the new Giants Ridge chalet. “It’s finally at the stage where we would have liked to have had it.”

Ramfjord – one of the original Giants Ridge “founders group” – was an honored guest at the official ribbon cutting of the 34,000 square-foot chalet. 

When the 2016-2017 Giants Ridge snow sports season opens in a few weeks, the new chalet will offer skiers a host of new amenities including centralized skier services, electronic lockers, expanded food offerings and a renovated day chalet/nordic center featuring season pass holder locker rooms.   

The facility has come a long way since 1958, when Ramfjord, Ed Karkoska and a handful of other friends from the East Range began toiling with axes, ropes and borrowed equipment to carve a single downhill ski run out of the woods on an undeveloped mountain range between Biwabik and Aurora.

The first alpine ski run at Giants Ridge was known as “Ram’s Run,” paying homage to Ramfjord. Now 48 years later “Ram’s Run” has been transformed into the Grenoble run, which is one of 35 runs at Giants Ridge, known throughout the Midwest and Canada as a premier snow sports destination.  

Read the full article.

Photo caption: Duane and Carley Ramfjord, John Filander, Giants Ridge staff and IRRRB Deputy Commissioner Mary Finnegan meet at the Oct. 21 Giants Ridge chalet ribbon cutting.

Craft brewing has been on a rapid rise within northeastern Minnesota and the nation.

So Castle Danger Brewery is growing as rapidly as it can.

What began by brewing five gallons atop a kitchen table will soon become a potential 35,000 barrel-per-year production facility at a Castle Danger Brewery expansion in Two Harbors, based on current growth trends.

“Beer is popular right now and there’s been a lot of growth in Minnesota in the last few years,” said Clint MacFarlane, Castle Danger Brewer co-owner. “The industry has changed a lot and is growing quickly. It’s getting more and more competitive, so we’re growing out as quickly as we can.”

A $201,000 IRRRB development grant to the City of Two Harbors is helping facilitate the brewery expansion. Relocation of a water line allows the brewery to build a new 8,400 square-foot packaging hall adjacent to the brewery’s taproom in downtown Two Harbors.

With the expansion, craft beer production will double in 3-5 years to 35,000 barrels-per-year and increase the brewery’s full-time workforce to 35-40 from its current 22.

“The grant allows us to do the expansion,” said MacFarlane.

Castle Danger craft beer is already distributed across most of the state in cities such as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bemidji, and Brainerd.

Craft beer making in 2015 was a $1.3 billion industry in Minnesota with production by 105 craft brewers, according to the Brewers Association.

With the expansion, Castle Danger Brewery will become one of the top five craft beer producers in Minnesota on a volume basis once capacity is reached in the new facility, said MacFarlane.

“We get to use Lake Superior water, some of the best brewing water in the world,” said MacFarlane. “Our beer is really good. A lot of the tourists who visit the North Shore stop at our taproom, enjoy our beer and get a great view of the lake.” 

Learn more about Castle Danger Brewery.

Photo caption: Pictured left to right are: Lon Larson, Mandy Larson, Jamie MacFarlane, and Clint MacFarlane. Photo by Donna K. Wood Photography.

Blandin Foundation announced today that it has selected six Iron Range communities for intensive, two-year partnerships with the Foundation to advance local broadband initiatives.  

Ely, Hibbing, Aitkin County, Bois Forte Reservation/Orr/Cook, Mountain Iron-Buhl area, and Chisholm all have been successful in their communities’ bids to become Blandin Broadband Communities (BBC).

Made possible with funding support from IRRRB and St. Louis County, this selection is unique in that all communities are located in IRRRB’s northeastern service area.  

“We’re pleased that IRRRB can play a role in helping these northeastern Minnesota communities receive assistance in how to develop and use broadband,” said IRRRB Commissioner Mark Phillips. “Developing high-speed broadband is critical to economic development, education, healthcare, and quality of life.”

Communities were selected based on demonstrated commitment to work together across sectors to set and meet information technology goals and bridge digital divides.

Read the full Blandin Foundation news release.

The Iron Range Tourism Bureau (IRTB) recently honored its Spirit of Hospitality Award winners at a gala at the Range Recreation Civic Center in Eveleth. Awards honor employees in the tourism/hospitality industry who enhance visitors’ experiences in the 12 communities that make up the IRTB service area. 

The 2016 Spirit of Hospitality winners pictured left to right are: Dennis and Karen Doyea, Hoyt Lakes volunteers in the Hall of Fame category; Tony Cossetta, Country Kitchen cook in the Food Production category; Jennifer Zylka of Sawmill Saloon, Bartender category; James Hansen, Villas at Giants Ridge, Hotel Guest Services category; Jaime Checco, Michael’s on the Green, Server category; George Sletta, Minnesota Discovery Center, Guest Relations category; Rebecca LeMenager, Target Virginia, Retail category; Mike Strukel, Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Back-of-the-House category. 

Not shown: Sarah Whiteman of Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Hotel Housekeeping, and June Hendrickson, Hibbing educator and volunteer, Lifetime Achievement award.

Nominate your favorite hospitality worker for a 2017 Spirit of Hospitality Award.

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