Whitney Ridlon, an IRRRB Community Development representative, has been honored with the President’s Award by the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce.

Ridlon, who administrates several IRRRB grant programs, was recognized for distinguished service, positive mentorship and extraordinary commitment to the chamber and community.

Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce President Lory Fedo told the Hibbing Daily Tribune that Ridlon “goes above and beyond when it comes to volunteering to help our community and business development.” 

Ridlon administers IRRRB's Downtown and Business Corridor, Business Energy Retrofit, Application Fund and Comprehensive Plan grant programs and spearheads IRRRB’s support of rural broadband development. She is also active in ReGen and Recharge the Range and serves as a youth figure skating coach.

The award was presented on Feb. 3 at the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce 112th annual dinner.

Pictured above: Troy Loeb, chair of the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors, presents Whitney Ridlon with the President's Award. 

Senator Carrie Rudd has been appointed to the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board.

Ruud, of Breezy Point, was appointed Monday, Feb. 13, at a meeting of the Minnesota Senate Rules and Administration – Subcommittee on Committees.

Ruud was first elected to the Senate in 2002 and serves Senate District 10, comprised of Aitkin and Crow Wing counties. Her special legislative concerns are small business, tourism, environment and education. 

She joins Senator Justin Eichorn of Grand Rapids, Representative Sandy Layman of Cohasset and Representative Julie Sandstede of Hibbing as new members of the IRRR Board.

Other board members are Senator Tom Bakk of Cook, Senator David Tomassoni of Chisholm, Representative Rob Ecklund of International Falls, Representative Dale Lueck of Aitkin, and Representative Jason Metsa of Virginia.

IRRRB today announced recipients of its fiscal year 2017 Downtown and Business Corridor grants.

Grants totaling $200,000 are awarded to six projects in northeastern Minnesota.

Downtown and Business Corridor grants are awarded on a competitive basis to non-profits, cities and informal grassroots groups within the IRRRB service area that partner with a non-profit or city that is also within the service area.

Projects are designed to incentivize investment in downtown areas and business corridors by promoting safe and attractive environments for residents, shoppers, workers and visitors and provide funding for highly visible and create projects to create excitement, encourage citizen engagement, and generate visible improvement. Applicants provide a 1:1 match per project.

View the list of grant recipients.

Four Blandin Broadband Community meetings are scheduled over the next week to help advance broadband development and use in northeastern Minnesota.

The public is invited to each meeting to help identify community strengths and gaps, brainstorm project ideas and prioritize potential broadband projects.

The Blandin Foundation, IRRRB and St. Louis County are partnering to hold the meetings.

Meetings held last week in Hibbing and Cook drew more than 100 citizens, businesspersons, healthcare representatives and local government officials.

Upcoming meetings are:

• Ely area – 3 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 15, at Amici’s Event Center in Ely.

• Chisholm area – 8:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, at Minnesota Discovery Center.

• Mountain Iron area – 9 a.m., Friday, Feb. 17, at Mountain Iron City Hall. 

• Aitkin County – 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb.21, at Long Lake Conservation Center in Palisade. 

Pictured above: The broadband vision meeting at Hibbing Community College on Feb. 7 drew a full house. (Photo credit: Bill Coleman)

IRRRB announces the second round of applications for two of its grant programs for fiscal year 2017. The Application Fund and the Culture and Tourism grant programs will accept applications from March 1 through March 31.

The Application Fund program provides grants to non-profits, cities, township and collaborative organizations to help reimburse the cost of preparing and applying for a grant that advances economic growth within the IRRRB service area. Applicants are required to provide a 1:1 match. Grant awards are from $150 to $5,000.

The Culture and Tourism program supports capital improvement, historic preservation, community arts and culture, tourism and recreation, hospitality and customer service training, marketing and promotion, and improvements to quality of life. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis to non-profits with projects within the IRRRB service area. Applicants are required to provide a 1:1 match. Grant awards range from $2,500 to $20,000.

Get additional information. 

Souper Sundays: Giants Ridge will run a Souper Sunday Nights Skiing Food Drive. Customers who bring a donation of two non-perishable food items will receive reduced lift ticket pricing for night skiing from 4 to 8 p.m. This annual event has collected up to about 500 pounds of food each season. The food drive is held in partnership with the East Range Rotary. The promotion runs on Sundays from Feb. 26 through March 19.

Get more information on Souper Sundays and other winter deals.

Top 100 Courses: Although it is the height of the ski season, the Giants Ridge golf courses are making some headlines. The Quarry golf course was ranked #8, and the Legend ranked #28 in the Top 100 Courses in the US by MyGolfSpy. Both of the Giants Ridge courses appear in this list, which is remarkable for a multi-course facility. This new and unique ranking is generated by data from The Grint, a golf handicap and stat tracking service that also allows golfers to rate the courses they play. 

View the full article.