|
December 2008
Greetings again from Voyageur Country. November has past and for many that meant taking to the woods in pursuit of the white-tail deer. Deer hunting is extremely popular in Koochiching County and as important as bagging a trophy white-tailed is for some, for many people, the tradition of gathering with family and friends in hunting camps in the familiar woods of northern Minnesota is the most important of the season.
With this newsletter, we'd like to share some of the flavor of deer hunting season, which remains a vital part of the quality of life here. Also, we'd like to highlight a new business to our area - Arro of the North - that provides professional land surveying and civil engineering services. And, we'd like to introduce you to an artist that has returned to the area. And with every newsletter, we'd like to provide an update on projects and noteworthy events in our area.
KEDA Project Updates…Northland Distributing and Manufacturing (ND &M) began work last month on a 30,000 sq. foot expansion of their facility in International Falls to provide space for warehousing and eventually manufacturing of outdoor wood boilers. The International Falls-based company owned by Keith and Brenda Horne, has seen incredible growth of their wood-boilers as well as a new line of pellet stoves. The Horne's have built their part-time home-based distributor business into a business that now has 15 full-time employees and a distribution network that covers 23 states.
ND& M currently has their wood boilers manufactured in Canada and does final assembly and shipping from their International Falls location. The sales growth and new product lines have provided an expansion opportunity that will allow them to manufacture in International Falls beginning late in 2009. ND& M is also putting the finishing touches on a new 2,500 sq. foot showroom that they will use to display various models of fireplaces, stoves, and decorative hearths.
Progress continues on the feasibility study for the Renewable Energy Clean Air Project (RECAP). The proposed $30 million project would represent the first waste-to-energy project that would use plasma gasification technology to convert municipal solid waste into energy. The feasibility study, funded through the State of Minnesota and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, will look to assess the various components of the project - technical, environmental, economic, operations - to help Koochiching County decide whether to move forward with the project. The feasibility study is being guided by Koochiching County and its development partner Coronal, and being independently reviewed by the engineering firm RW Beck. The study should be complete by the spring of 2009.
The KEDA is also gearing up for another cold weather testing season. The KEDA manages and coordinates testing at the test facilities located at the International Falls Airport. Test groups, primarily in the automotive industry, utilize the facilities for a variety of cold weather evaluations and test programs. The testing season generally runs from December through March.
|
