When one of its employees longed to return to his hometown of Grand Rapids, Swan Machine did more than just listen.

The company constructed a new facility.

“There were three main reasons that we expanded in Grand Rapids,” said Darrin Swanson, Swan Machine chief executive officer. “We have an employee who’s a superstar who had lived in Grand Rapids, loved it and wanted to go home,” said Swanson. “There was workforce availability in Grand Rapids. And we wanted to move where the workers are.”

Headquartered in Perham, Minnesota, Swan Machine this summer opened its new 13,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Grand Rapids.

The Grand Rapids facility produces high precision machining services for several industries including heavy duty trailer parts, components for recreational vehicles and paint sprayer components, among many others.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the project with a business development loan to the company and an infrastructure grant to the City of Grand Rapids.

Swanson says workers at the facility are outstanding, utilizing four computer numerical control (CNC) machines, lathes and other state-of-the art milling equipment.

Two additional CNC machines are in transit as the Grand Rapids facility continues to grow, said Swanson.

Swan Machine Inc., was founded in 2003. A sister company, Kit Masters Inc., was founded in 1996.

A Welding Talent Forum targeted at businesses in need of welders is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 27 from noon to 2 p.m. at Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation in Eveleth. 

In response to the region’s welder’s shortage, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation and Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) hosted a meeting of regional service providers on Sept. 11 to begin exploring options on how best to address this challenge. The Sept. 27 forum will include regional businesses that employ welders to determine how to proceed with addressing this challenge. 

Facilitators will be Roy Smith, director of talent development for Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation and NHED, and Trent Janezich, director of Advanced Minnesota. 

Smith said, "We're fortunate to live in a region where are there are close connections between industry, education and economic development that result in innovative solutions to talent development."  

Representatives from NORTHFORCE, Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, and local workforce centers will be in attendance to help make connections between available workers and businesses looking to hire welders.  

Lunch will be provided. RSVP to kimmie.hall@state.mn.us.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation launched a new online grants management system called Fluxx in August 2016. Fluxx has enhanced customer service to grant applicants for the past year by electronically streamlining grants management and providing timely communication to applicants.

“The online Fluxx system worked really well for our grant project,” said John Connelly, who used Fluxx to submit a grant application for the Grand Rapids Itasca Mountain Bicycling Association. “All the information is in one place, and it’s easy to track the grant moving through the process.”

Applicants can access the system through a portal where everything needed in administering a grant from the agency is available, from the pre-application stage and the reimbursement requests, to the final reporting on project completion.

“We’ve received very positive feedback from the grant applicants over the last year,” said Mark Phillips, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation commissioner. “Fluxx automated the grant programs and ultimately has had a greater impact in our communities through project collaboration.”

Since its launch last year, Fluxx has received 226 grant applications, and 159 of those have been successfully funded within the agency’s service area.

A variety of grants are available to local units of government, education institutions, and nonprofits that promote sustainable communities. 

Learn more about Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation grants.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation's Workforce Development Program is now accepting applications for the 2018 fiscal year. 

The Workforce Development Program supports education and training initiatives that emerge from industry, industry clusters, schools, or collaborations that build capacity, increase responsiveness, or demonstrate innovation to address workforce needs within the agency's service area. 

Eligible applicants include post-secondary education institutions and/or nonprofit organizations partnering with corporate industries providing education or training programs operating within our service area. Multi-organization collaboration is required.

For FY 2018, the program is funded at $200,000.

Application deadline is Wednesday, Oct. 18. 

Learn more about the Workforce Development Program and other grant opportunities.

Upcoming FY18 Grant Program Deadlines: 

• Culture and Tourism application cycles: Sept. 1-29, 2017 and March 1-30, 2018
• Drilling Incentive Grant (DIG) Program application cycle: Sept. 1-29, 2017
• Application Fund application cycles: Oct. 1-31, 2017 and Feb. 1-28, 2018
• Downtown and Business Corridor application cycle: Nov. 1-30, 2017

The Recharge the Range Active Living group, in collaboration with the Mesabi Family YMCA and the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota, is gathering feedback from Iron Range parents. 

The groups are working on implementing a free daily (Monday through Friday) summer event for children in the city of Virginia in 2018. The daily events will feature a variety of physical activities and nutrition education, as well as a free lunch.

Parents are asked to complete a brief survey in order to help the groups best accommodate what the children need and would enjoy. 

Take the parent survey. 

The State of Minnesota will hold its second-ever Career Fair on Saturday, Oct. 14. The first State of Minnesota Career Fair in 2016 attracted more than 4,000 job and career seekers interested in learning about employment opportunities in state government. 

Activities for the day include: 

• Agency exhibit booths for job seekers to talk to agencies about job openings
• Complimentary professional LinkedIn photos for job seekers
• 1-on-1 resume critique
• Workshops on how to apply to state jobs, resume writing, interviewing and networking
• Onsite interviews
• American Sign Language, Spanish, Hmong and Somali interpreters provided on-site 

The event will be held at Saint Paul RiverCentre in St. Paul from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Learn more about the career fair.