Northeastern Minnesota's air transportation system has a wide-ranging impact on the region’s economy and quality of life as businesses and people are increasingly dependent on air travel.

The 12 airports located within the Taconite Assistance Area connect the region to local, regional, national and international markets. They are located in Aitkin, Bigfork, Chisholm/Hibbing, Cook, Ely, Eveleth-Virginia, Grand Marais, Grand Rapids, Orr, Silver Bay, Tower and Two Harbors.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation has provided infrastructure grants to many of these airports to help pay for renovations and enhancements to runways and airfield lights, taxi lanes, hangars, aircraft parking aprons, passenger terminals, arrival and departure buildings, and auxiliary businesses. In 2015, Range Regional Airport (RRA) in Hibbing alone contributed $15.24 million to the local economy according to an InterVISTAS study.

“Airports and air transportation play a key economic role,” said Mark Phillips, Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation commissioner. “They provide jobs and economic stability, spur private business and assist with essential community and health services.”

Medical care - The airports contribute significantly to the quality of our region’s medical care. Doctors, medical specialists and equipment have flight access into the region, and when needed patients have flight access out of the region via air ambulances.

Emergency response – Firefighting, disaster relief and law enforcement can have decreased response times due to area airports. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) bases their fire suppression aircraft at RRA April through October and can therefore respond quicker to forest fires. Minnesota State Patrol, National Guard and Civil Air Patrol utilize the airports for public safety issues including search and rescue missions.

Tourism and recreational travel – Local residents have daily access to Minneapolis, as well as access to national and international connection flights via Sun Country and SkyWest Airlines operating as Delta Connection for Delta Air Lines. The airports provide services for both private and charter travelers. At RRA in 2017, 15,089 passengers departed on SkyWest/Delta and Sun Country combined, and there were 716 total flights.

Attracting new businesses – Companies considering a relocation to northeastern Minnesota look for locations that have air transit linkages to large airports to accommodate corporate personnel travel as well as cargo shipping of their products manufactured in the Iron Range.

Supply chain management – UPS provides daily air transportation of packages in and out of the region, while other freight carriers transport cargo in and out for local industries as needed.

Support existing industries and businesses – Existing businesses in the region supply to the aviation industry such as Hibbing Fabricators who provides its manufactured parts to both Boeing and Cirrus Aircraft. Companies that are headquartered outside of the region fly their corporate aircraft in and out of several of the area’s airports in order to conduct business or site visits to their Iron Range retail and other locations.

Aviation support businesses – Airports may lease space to private businesses that supply to the aviation industry. Midwest Aircraft Refinishing (MAR) specializes in repairing and refinishing aircraft, employs 10 people and leases 14,700 square feet at RRA. This summer, MAR is adding 9,500 new square feet and 10 additional employees to its operation. Flight training schools are other examples of private business connected to aviation.

The region’s airports are a key component to the infrastructure system that includes roadways, rail lines and a world-class port in Duluth and shipping from the North Shore. Together they move the region's imports and exports connecting our businesses and people to the rest of Minnesota and beyond.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supports air transportation within the Taconite Assistance Area through development infrastructure grants. Email Chris Ismil or call him at 218-735-3010 for information.

Pictured: Sun Country Airlines – Boeing 737-800, courtesy of Range Regional Airport.

A career fair, featuring customer care employment opportunities in the region, is slated for Wednesday, April 25 at Mesabi Range College in Virginia from noon to 7 p.m. 

Participating companies are:

• Anthem, Gilbert 
• Blue Cross Blue Shield, Virginia
• Delta Air Lines, Chisholm

Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels officially opened on Friday, April 6. Operating under one roof adjacent to Virginia’s Thunderbird Mall, it serves its own coffee blends, gourmet bagels and “shmear,” breakfast and lunch sandwiches, bakery goods and smoothies. 

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Caribou is one of the nation’s largest coffeehouses with hundreds of locations in 22 states. The Virginia location offers inside seating, drive-through service and catering for any size group delivered to home or office.

The new store is part of a retail transformation which began three years ago when Texas-based RockStep Capital purchased the struggling mall with the goal of bringing investor capital to the property. Demolition and renovation of a portion of the former Kmart building and parking lot have made way for the addition of new national tenants such as Caribou and Einstein. Rockstep said the redevelopment was critical to stabilizing the property and validating the market for other potential national and regional tenants who may be uncertain about locating in the market.

The mall revitalization is locally led by Jody Vest, RockStep’s Midwest regional manager and long-time Virginia mall manager. Vest supervises the daily operations and financial management of Thunderbird and RockStep’s other Midwest properties. She plays a key role in helping the mall adapt and achieve financial health in an era of robust retail change.

According to Rockstep the redevelopment project has created demolition, construction, part time and full time jobs and is also increasing the City of Virginia and St. Louis County tax bases.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the larger mall project with a $350,000 commercial redevelopment grant which helped pay for the demolition. “The agency’s grant was instrumental in making this project happen,” said Andy Weiner, RockStep CEO. “The new development could not have happened without it.”

Commercial redevelopment grant money is still available to cities, townships and counties this fiscal year. Email Chris Ismil for details or call him at 218-735-3010.

View the Caribou and Einstein website. 

Pictured is the interior of the new Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels in Virginia. Photo courtesy of the Thunderbird Mall.

The Dorothy Molter Museum in Ely will open a new exhibit this summer to commemorate its 25th year in operation. The museum preserves Northwoods wilderness heritage inspired by Dorothy Molter, the last non-indigenous resident of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW).

The exhibit “Creating the Boundary Waters: 25 Objects, 25 Stories” will showcase historic objects from the museum’s collection, including a 1909 trout fishing rod with a nine-pound reel and wire line, a 1940s-era chainsaw used to harvest ice and cut wood, a canoe yolk and shoulder pads Dorothy used to portage and a Duluth Pack she used for hauling supplies.

“Each item tells a story about the creation of the Boundary Waters, mostly from the perspective of Dorothy,” said Jess Edberg, museum executive director. “The items were either collected from the Isle of Pines following her death in 1986 or donated to the museum by people to whom she gifted them.”

Dorothy, a licensed nurse from Chicago, first visited Isle of Pines resort on Knife Lake with family members in 1930 at age 23. As her annual visits with family continued, she developed a friendship with resort owner Bill Berglund based on their mutual love of the wilderness. Eventually Dorothy would reside on the island year round to assist Mr. Berglund with resort operations and maintenance. He passed away in 1948 and his family deeded the resort to Dorothy. She began making homemade root beer after the flight ban of 1949 and sold it to thousands of canoeists and visitors to her resort earning her the name Root Beer Lady. 

Dorothy gained national media attention beginning in 1952 due to her unorthodox lifestyle, and that attention culminated with the passing of the 1964 Wilderness Act and a successful petition to the federal government urging the United States Forest Service to allow her to stay on her property until her death. She passed away at age 79 and was the last living occupant of the 2-million acre BWCAW. Read her full biography here.

The museum, located on the east end of Ely, features an interpretive center and gift shop and three of Dorothy’s original cabins housing a variety of exhibits including her root beer making equipment. It is open daily May 26 through Labor Day and attracts approximately 5,000 visitors each season.  An exhibit opening will be held during the museum's annual Dorothy Day event which this summer is June 24.

Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported this project with a Culture & Tourism grant. 

Pictured is Dorothy Molter, the Root Beer Lady. 

Elyite.com is a new website showcasing life in and around Ely. It was launched April 15 as an information resource to guide people in their relocation to Ely.

The site features images and video of outdoor activities and scenery, video testimonials of people who live and work in Ely (Elyites, pronounced Ee-lee-ite), as well as information on regional heritage, lifestyle, recreation, community resources, employment, area schools and colleges.

“Anyone considering a move to Ely will find this site enormously helpful with a lot of resources,” said Dusty Schaper, website volunteer and Elyite. “Folks can learn about everything related to child care, healthcare, current industries, contacts for opening a business, available housing and real estate, and broadband capability for those seeking to work remotely.”

The new website resulted from the Blandin Broadband Community Program in which Ely was selected as one of six Iron Range communities to develop broadband initiatives tailored to a community’s specific needs.

“Our all-volunteer group collaborated with the City of Ely to centralize information for those Minnesotans and Americans who are worn down from the urban rat race and are looking for a different, more adventurous and serene way of life,” said Schaper. “Ely is full of very successful professionals who have opted out of urban America and are instead raising their family and earning a living by working and telecommuting in northeastern Minnesota.”

The Blandin broadband program was supported in part by a grant from Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation. The program involves an intensive two-year partnership between Blandin and area communities to advance broadband initiatives. This ongoing effort helps northeastern Minnesota rural communities develop high speed internet that is critical to economic development, education, healthcare and quality of life.

Visit the Elyite.com. website.