MN's largest logging equipment returns to North Star Expo in Grand Rapids

GRAND RAPIDS — Minnesota’s biggest logging equipment show is returning to Itasca County on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13.

The 71st Annual North Star Expo is hosted by the Minnesota Timber Producers Association and will be at the Itasca County Fairgrounds in Grand Rapids. Admission to the two-day event is free, and it runs 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday. The expo features upwards of 100 exhibitors, including over $15 million in the latest logging, trucking, and sawmill equipment and technology.

In a news release, the association reported that loggers, vendors and timber industry representatives from Minnesota and around the Upper Midwest will attend, as well as lawmakers, policymakers and other stakeholders from around the state.

Roughly 200 high school students from around the region will also attend the North Star Expo as part of the Future Forest Stewards program. Students will get a firsthand look at the forest products industry and learn about potential jobs in Minnesota’s working forests.

“The Expo has a long tradition in our state, just like the timber industry in Minnesota,” stated North Star Expo committee chair Chad Lovdahl in the release. “It’s our chance to celebrate that history with loggers and others from our industry."

The 2025 edition of the expo will also include contests that allow participants to show off their skills and knowledge of the logging business, including the loader and master loader contests. Other competitions include “Biggest Tree Cookie” and “Guess the Weight.”

Nearly 68,000 Minnesotans work in the forest products industry, impacting our state’s economy to the tune of $9.9 billion in direct sales each year, the association reports.

The Minnesota Timber Producers Association is a trade organization representing the state’s loggers, truckers, sawmills and allied businesses.