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Steelworkers reach tentative deal with U.S. Steel
The bargaining team for the United Steelworkers announced Saturday they had reached a tentative agreement with U.S. Steel. Though the union is not yet releasing details, the Steelworkers’ statement indicates that terms of the contract deal are better than what was being offered over the summer. From the statement: As you know, our industry is…
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White House chief of staff to visit Iron Range
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough is coming to the Iron Range on Tuesday, Dec. 22. He will meet with laid off miners, local officials and others affected by the ongoing downturn in the local economy. These factors have been caused by a glut of global steel supply and cheap foreign imports. I have…
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U.S. Steel, union to resume talks this week
The U.S. Steel Corporation and the United Steelworkers resume talks this week in Pittsburgh after a cooling off period. Union officials say the company has made a new offer and that they will review and discuss the offer at these new meetings. The union has said that U.S. Steel has been asking for serious concessions in…
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Essar still owes millions to Iron Range contractors
Major media outlets report that despite Essar’s payment of $20 million to local vendors after an ultimatum from Gov. Mark Dayton, the company still owes millions to contractors. Coverage includes offerings from the Star Tribune (Dee DePass story) and Minnesota Public Radio (Dan Kraker story). This matches recent casual conversations I’ve had with laid off construction workers and miners from nearby idled taconite plants. Vendors…
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NY Times paints grim picture for Iron Range mines
A business story in yesterday’s New York Times carries this headline: “If It Owns a Well or a Mine, It’s Probably in Trouble.” And since that describes many of the largest businesses on Northern Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, we can rightly take warning. Companies that produce commodities — oil, iron, copper or the like —…
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LIVE BLOG: MN House 3A Special Election today
Today voters head to the polls in Minnesota District 3A. This district is the state’s largest geographic House seat sprawling across Koochiching, northern and eastern St. Louis, most of Lake and all of Cook counties. This is a special election to replace the late Rep. David Dill (DFL-Crane Lake), who died last summer. Polls will…
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Tense Essar negotiations with Dayton, contractors
UPDATE: Today, Gov. Dayton’s spokesperson Matt Swenson issued this statement, which indicates that Essar is issuing new capital into its Nashwauk project: “Governor Mark Dayton spoke Thursday afternoon with IRRRB Commissioner Mark Phillips and Cathy Polasky from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), to discuss the status of Essar Steel Minnesota’s payments…
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Gov. Dayton to Essar: Pay contractors now
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton says that if Essar Steel Minnesota doesn’t pay outstanding bills to its contractors by the end of the businesses day on Wednesday, he will call the state’s $66 million loan in full. Essar seeks to build a $2.6 billion taconite plant on the western Mesabi Iron Range, but has been plagued by…
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Cohasset proposes $300 million power plant
UPDATE: New information offers more clarity to this story. Cohasset City Administrator Max Peters said that the city backed the Navosota project as a matter of routine for potential buyers for lots in its industrial park. Though there are other bidders for this project in the Upper Midwest, this is the only one looking at…
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Makers unite for Iron Range Makerspace
Some of you might recall my Oct. 11 column “Tinkers, Thinkers and 3-D Printers,” in which I suggested one way to diversify the Iron Range economy was to develop homegrown inventions and entrepreneurship. In that piece, I talked about “maker spaces,” places where dues-paying members would have access to sophisticated building, welding and milling equipment along with 3-D printers.…
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Is this the 1980s again on the Iron Range?
I grew up in the 1980s on a junkyard just a few miles south of Eveleth Taconite. Growing up on a junkyard is probably the best way to understand the things humans build, sell, use and discard. So let’s consider a new car. I’ve only ever bought one brand new car fresh off the lot. It…
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Reed Drug in Grand Rapids, MN, to close
Reed Drug, arguably the most iconic downtown business in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, will close its pharmacy this Monday, Nov. 23 at the end of the business day. The gift store will close at the end of the year. The store has been at this location since 1955, though has been operating in Grand Rapids since…
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State to fund Itasca County rural broadband proposal
Company officials just announced that Paul Bunyan Communication received a nearly $2 million grant from Minnesota’s Border to Broadband program to bring high speed internet to underserved regions. Their proposal would connect 1,250 households in rural Itasca County to better, more affordable internet options than currently available. My friend Tom Anzelc, fellow Balsam Township resident…
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Magnetation warns union of plant shutdown in 2016
Today, Magnetation announced it has warned its union that it will likely shut down one of its Iron Range iron concentrate plants on or after Jan. 31, 2016. Fifty More than 160 employees could be laid off or otherwise affected for longer than six months. Magnetation, based in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, is a scram mining operation on the…
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Cliffs will idle another Iron Range mine through March
This morning Cliffs Natural Resources announced that beginning on Dec. 1 it would idle Northshore Mining in Babbitt and Silver Bay at least through March of 2016. Cliffs also announced that already-idled United Taconite in Eveleth would remain shut down at least that long as well. Company leaders say the shutdown will end when market conditions…