Bear Island Surveying, an Ely-based land surveying company was purchased late last year by two of its employees, Jen Zgonc and Mark Crenshaw. The new owners utilized the Northland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to facilitate the purchase by assisting them with business plan development, financial analysis and projections, financing scenarios and business valuation.

“Determining the value of the existing business and identifying a fair purchase price was the most important piece of the puzzle,” said Zgonc. “The fee to hire out that service can often be very high. Betsy Olivanti at SBDC, free of charge, completed for us a rule-of-thumb valuation through financial analysis and then helped us determine what purchase price the cash flow projections would support. This allowed us to negotiate a reasonable purchase price with the owner.”

Olivanti is the SBDC regional consultant and provides technical support to local businesses (existing and startups) such as business plan development, feasibility and financial analysis, market research, advertising and sales, loan packaging, strategic planning, accounting systems and e-commerce. Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation provided a Development Partnership grant to Northland Foundation to support an SBDC representative located on the Iron Range.

Bear Island Surveying was originally founded in 1960 as Zenith Surveying. The company, over the past 60 years, had a couple of owners and name changes until becoming Bear Island in 1996 under the ownership of  Bruce ‘Charlie’ and Gail ‘Sue’ Chernak. When the Chernaks expressed an interest in selling the business, Zgonc and Crenshaw seized the opportunity to become owners of a company they had both been employed at for many years.

Under their ownership, Bear Island continues to provide property boundary surveys, site plans, topographic surveys, FEMA floodplain surveys, platted subdivisions, condominium surveys, lot splits, ALTA surveys, easements, wetland delineation and legal descriptions. Clients include private land owners, commercial businesses such as Minnesota Power and Lake Country Power, and governmental agencies like United States Forest Service and Saint Louis County.

Zgonc is an Ely native, graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth and has been employed at Bear Island for over three years. Crenshaw was raised in Pine River, Minnesota and moved to Ely to take a job with Bear Island 14 years ago. They are now business partners and employ two full-time and two part-time employees in their downtown Ely location.

“The company is growing strong. Our services have been in high demand through the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to the low mortgage rates,” said Crenshaw. “We are continuing the tradition of being a locally-owned business and working with the people and organizations in northeastern Minnesota.”    

For Development Partnership grant information email Whitney Ridlon or call her at 218-735-3004. For SBDC business consulting services email Betsy Olivanti or call her at 218-228-8552, ext. 102.

Pictured above are the downtown Ely storefront, the Bear Island Surveying crew at work and new owners Jen Zgonc and Mark Crenshaw with previous owners Charlie & Sue Chernak.

Harbor Freight Tools at Uptown Virginia (formerly Thunderbird Mall) will soon open and create 15,000 square feet of redeveloped retail space. The Virginia store is Harbor Freight’s 11th location in Minnesota and joins more than 1,000 stores across the nation. It offers over 7,000 high quality air, automotive, hand and power tools and accessories at prices up to 80% less than competing brands.

Founded in 1977 and headquartered in Calabasas, California, Harbor Freight began as and remains a family-owned business. It has 20,000 employees and operates in 48 states. Click here to watch a video about Harbor Freight.

The opening of Harbor Freight in Uptown is part of a larger retail transformation which began six years ago when Texas-based RockStep Capital purchased the struggling Virginia, Minnesota 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 made way for new national tenants including ALDI, Caribou Coffee & Einstein Bagels, Tractor Supply Company and Verizon Wireless. Hobby Lobby opened last year in a space vacated by Herberger’s at the opposite end of the mall. RockStep said the redevelopment was critical to stabilizing the property and validating the market for other potential national and regional tenants.

The mall revitalization is locally led by Jody Vest, RockStep’s director of mall management and long-time Virginia mall property manager. Vest supervises the daily operations and financial management of Uptown and RockStep’s other enclosed mall properties. She plays a key role in helping the malls adapt and achieve financial health in an era of robust retail change and also amidst a global health pandemic that has impacted American shopping.

“The opening of Harbor Freight Tools will complete the redevelopment of the former Kmart Building, a project that would not have been possible without the support of Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation,” said Vest. “The agency’s grants helped us secure the new national tenants as well as the new local businesses that have relocated to the mall such as Iron Range Apparel, The Sugar Shack, Pebble Spa and Amazing Grace Boutique.”

Uptown Virginia currently has over 20 businesses encompassing retail, food and professional services. Click here to browse all of the new and long-time retailers at Uptown Virginia.

According to RockStep the redevelopment project created demolition, construction, part- and full-time jobs and is increasing the city of Virginia and St. Louis County tax bases. Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the mall transformation project with Commercial Redevelopment grants. Email Chris Ismil for grant information or call him at 218-735-3010.

Harbor Freight is hiring for the Uptown Mall location. Click here for employment opportunities.

A new 1,200-foot raised boardwalk was added to Sax-Zim Bog Important Bird Area (IBA), a 300-square mile biodiverse natural habitat stretching around the towns of Meadowlands, Zim, Toivola and Cotton. The Bob Russell Bogwalk enables visitors to safely access Winterberry Bog, a 40-acre mature black spruce-tamarack bog located within Sax-Zim. The boardwalk is four-feet wide and has turnouts and turnarounds making it accessible to wheelchairs.

Winterberry Bog features extensive carpets of sphagnum moss, Pink Ladyslipper, Labrador Tea, Spiders, Black-backed Woodpecker, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Blackburnian Warbler and diverse fungi.

“Walking through Winterberry Bog gives the feeling of entering a cathedral and walking beneath a canopy of black spruce and tamarack trees,” said Sparky Stensaas, Friends of Sax-Zim Bog executive director. “Northeastern Minnesota is one of the few places in the nation that offers an experience like this. People can safely use the new boardwalk without worrying about getting lost or getting their feet soaked. ”

An IBA is an area that is globally important for the conservation of bird populations. There are more than 12,000 IBAs worldwide, of which 2,758 are in the United States and 57 in Minnesota. All American IBAs are administered by the National Audubon Society.

Sax-Zim has 244 known bird varieties and according to Stensaas is known among birders, photographers, naturalists and tourists as the best place in North America to view seldom-seen boreal bird species. Over 5,000 human visitors from 45 states and five foreign countries visited Sax-Zim Bog last winter.

Friends of Sax-Zim has protected over 500 acres of bog for future generations of birds and birders. Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation supported the boardwalk with a $20,000 Regional Trails grant. For grant information email Jim Plummer or call him at 218-274-7006.

Note: Due to COVID-19 in-person field trips are not available. Click here to watch virtual field trips with Stensaas and Head Naturalist Clinton. The Sax-Zim Welcome Center will not be open this winter, but all boardwalks and trails will be open for hiking and snowshoeing. Click here to view the Sax-Zim Bog birding/hiking map.

Giants Ridge completed the construction of three miles of cross-country bike trails, with five-plus additional miles nearing completion. The trails wind through United States Forest Service lands within the recreation area offering riders a test of endurance through forested terrain.

The cross-country trails provide a different riding experience than the facility’s approximate seven miles of gravity mountain bike trails that have been constructed and opened throughout the past two years. The cross-country trails are pedal-powered, not lift-served and create a flowy backwoods experience for cyclists. Portions of the trails will be utilized for fat-biking during the winter months.

“This biking season was very strong. Some of that was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and people longing for outdoor recreation close to home,” said Benji Neff, Giants Ridge mountain sports director. “But most of all, the strong season was due to the fact that Giants Ridge offers an excellent riding experience with different terrains and outstanding scenery.”

Since 2018 when Giants Ridge began building bike trails, almost 18 miles have been completed. Future plans include the expansion of both mountain bike and cross-country trails. When all bike trail construction is completed, Giants Ridge will be the largest lift-served bike park in the Midwest.

“Giants Ridge has long been known for exceptional skiing and golf,” said Neff. “With the recent trail development here in Biwabik and across the region, northeastern Minnesota is quickly becoming a top-notch trails destination.”

Giants Ridge is owned by Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation and managed by Guest Services, a premier hospitality management company in the United States since 1917. The bike park recently closed for the season. Giants Ridge is preparing for the upcoming winter sports season. Click here for winter recreation information.

Pictured above are the new cross-country bike trails and the guest lines this fall at the lift-served gravity mountain bike trails at Giants Ridge.