We hosted the East Range Summit on June 2 at the Burnt Onion restaurant at Giants Ridge. Key topics included area child care shortages, marketing efforts for the region, and a business visits series taking place in 2025.
Our keynote speaker Ben Winchester of the University of Minnesota Extension presented on the topic of “Rewriting the Rural Narrative.” He covered demographic trends and explored the concept of “megaregions” formed by complex connections between rural and urban areas. Countering several common narratives about rural areas, Ben shared rural “brain gain” data, and made the case for a shift from “Middle of Nowhere” mentalities to a “Middle of Everywhere” outlook.
We also heard from Carson Gorecki, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s regional labor market analyst for northeast Minnesota. Carson shared recent labor market updates and pointed us toward free tools available for analyzing industry trends, workforce availability, hiring demand, and more.
The day concluded with a panel discussion on the topic of “Innovation on the East Range.” We heard from:
- Beth Pierce, Discover the Range
- Miriam Kero, Hello Range / Miriam Kero Consulting
- Steve Rahkola, Entrepreneur Fund
- Jeff Burgess, Mesabi East School District
- Josh Woolery, Giants Ridge
We had over 40 attendees and the event was very well received. We plan to host the East Range Summit again in the future!
Featured Photo Credit: Shawn Herhusky, Department of Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation
