Economic Development

Plus: A McKinley City Council member is facing three felonies after allegedly disrupting power service to three Iron Range cities; St. Louis County assessors are setting up an alternate process for Fairbanks Township residents to appeal their 2025 valuations due to wildfire evacuations; Amazon is building a distribution facility in Grand Rapids; and drifting Canadian wildfire smoke is prompting air quality alerts in the Northland this weekend.

Amazon and the Grand Rapids Economic Development Authority announced the facility Thursday, May 29, 2025. Construction began earlier this month.

The funds will support site development for the city's Blackwater Banks project on the former Cohasset Lumber Mill site.

The Empower program at MNC - Hibbing hosts a Women in the Workforce event for high school students to encourage engineering, construction and other careers in the trades.

KAXE covered pushback on the LGBTQ+ community, changes in rural health care delivery, a coal ash spill at Boswell Energy Center, tribal land back efforts, helium mining and more.

The Minnesota Department of Economic and Employment Development recently awarded the city a $589,926 grant to develop its rail corridor — a contaminated site with minimal infrastructure.

There is still plenty of time to take in Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo's work in a troll journey around Detroit Lakes and nearby Frazee.

As housing and economic development remain top regional concerns, Hubbard County is considering addressing both with a combined housing and economic development authority.

The grants will help internet companies get high-speed connectivity to rural homes and businesses.

Itasca Economic Development Corporation offers assistance to entrepreneurs and has now opened a facility called The Forge, where community members can rent space to learn skills like welding.