Midnight in the halls of Iron Range power

I didn't think Excelsior Energy could go a whole legislative session without deploying its vast lobbying force for something. Recently, in the tax bill conference committee, State. Sen. Tom Bakk inserted language that extends the property tax exemptions from 2010 to 2012 for everyone's favorite black hole of government giveaways and special favors. Excelsior is the company proposing the Mesaba Energy Project, a coal gas power plant intended for the Iron Range. The project enjoys great political support from most elected officials, is deeply misunderstood by the population at large, and will almost certainly break the hearts of the people of the Iron Range at some point in the next decade.

I'm tired of talking about carbon sequestration, private financing, lobbyists and lawyers and all the other things I rail about when I post about Excelsior. Let me try to explain why I care about this.

The first problem I have with this project is that it exists only because, starting in 2002, a group of lobbyist/lawyers succeeded in getting officials in Minnesota and the Iron Range in particular to give them vast amounts of money and favors. There was little debate, very little questioning of this so-called company. There was certainly no discussion about whether the tens of millions of state and Iron Range dollars and hundreds of millions of federal dollars could be better spent in other ways. We were told this was simply a "jobs" project, and that's all Range lawmakers needed to hear in 2002 when it looked like the whole mining industry was falling apart. We were told 1,000 jobs would come from this, when anyone in the power industry could have told them that only about 100-200 permanent jobs could ever come from such a project. In short, the project was built on desperation and deception.

My second problem with this is related to a much larger issue. Who is in charge on the Iron Range? Are the people and their elected representatives in charge? Or is it developers, lobbyists and consultants? Because the Range is doomed if its the latter. We will only survive this fast-changing transition to the global economy if our elected leaders use their judgment in defending the interests and resources of the people ahead of the interests of those who offer lofty promises in exchange for free rein over laws and public coffers. The leaders of Excelsior Energy walked onto the Iron Range pretending to be a group of native Rangers interested in "saving" the region. But their business model has been to clearly and forcibly shift risk from their ledgers onto that of the taxpayers, to promise more jobs than they could deliver and to mischaracterize the nature of the technology they tout, making a science experiment seem like a sure thing.

Meantime, the $9.5 million that the Iron Range gave this company (ostensibly as a loan, but the language clearly implies that we'll never see that money again) could have built a new school. It could have almost met the state match on the federal highway money that could have finally -- after FIFTY years -- finished the cross-Range Highway 169. City sewers. Rural broadband. Streets and roads. All of these real needs were put behind the needs of lobbyists.

Excelsior Energy has acted as though it owns the Iron Range and is entitled to its mineral monies and special treatment. As long as the status quo continues, Excelsior and any half-rate pack of wolves that comes along DOES own the Range. They WILL extract our resources and push our local, county and state officials around like cattle. Every midnight conference committee will contain favorable language for developers at the expense of the regular Iron Range people who mined the ore that funded the whole enterprise. And when the money's gone, the wolves will be gone. No jobs. And people like me and my kids will be sitting around wondering what to do next.

So I will talk about this as often as is necessary. I will post commentaries like this every week, every day if necessary until this company and any like it is driven from the halls of Iron Range power. I don't need votes. I don't need money. I've got no personal stake in this except that I want to see the right thing done and the people put first.

So if I go on and on, now you know why. Believe me, I'd MUCH rather be talking about something else.

Five questions about the Iron Range economic boom

Tony Barrett, an economics professor at St. Scholastica in Duluth, poses five excellent questions about the Iron Range's prospective economic boom in today's Duluth News-Tribune. I sense on the streets and back roads of the Iron Range that people are sitting back, perhaps a bit too comfortable in the belief that good times are about to roll. There is work to do and change to come. This won't be easy. Kudos to Barrett for a concise summary of the issues ahead for the people of the Iron Range.

More steel and speculation in this week's Biz North

Wayne Nelson and the writers at Business North do a fine job of covering the economic news of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. This week's edition has a couple of interesting Iron Range stories.

First, this story reviews Essar Global's North American steel ambitions, something I talked about earlier in the week. This is the company that is in the process of buying Minnesota Steel, a proposed mining and steel-making operation on the Iron Range.

Then this story explores how the Iron Range is currently driving the region's manufacturing and service economy in advance of what is still believed to be a potential economic boom.

Buck up, Dollar!

This is my weekly column for the Sunday, May 4, 2008 Hibbing Daily Tribune. I archive past columns at my writing page. A shortened version of this piece also aired as a radio commentary on KAXE's "Between You and Me" yesterday. Go to http://www.kaxe.org/ and click into the archives if you would like me from the past to read this to you. Or just read what's below. That works too.

Buck up, dollar
By Aaron J. Brown

A dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. The dollar is “weak” right now. That’s according to stern-looking smart people on those obscure financial channels up in the 8,000s on your cable or satellite service. I think the one guy was wearing suspenders and a bow tie. So it must be true. Money from other countries is forming a circle around the dollar in the dark alley of international currency exchange. The British pound brandishes a chain. The Euro sharpens its shiv. The loonie slaps a homemade club against its palm. Even the hapless peso laughs menacingly at our weakened dollar while the yen burns holes in George Washington’s face with its eyes.

As much as I’d like to fake my way through a discussion of international currency, what I really want to talk about is how far we can make a dollar go during these tough economic times. Can a dollar get us through breakfast? Can a dollar sprout wheels and get me to work? No, but a dollar can win me a rifle in a Cub Scout raffle. What does that say?

We have to keep matters of currency in perspective. I may not be an expert but I have observed that what we perceive as “a lot” in this country is “not a lot” in other countries. Some currencies measure units in the tens of thousands. In Zimbabwe, one American dollar equals 30 million Zimbabwean dollars. With high food prices and under stocked stores, people there now pay hundreds of millions just for one meal’s worth of bread. A couple hundred million dollars here buys you an NHL franchise. Not a good one but, you know; there’s a bar in the VIP box.

For Americans, there’s just something magical about the dollar. As a kid, a crisp green dollar unleashes untold powers in the candy section of the local store, the only place that really matters. First the little pennies saved turn to nickels and dimes, then to the big round quarters with the man who looks like your friend’s grandma on it. Four friend’s grandmas and you can trade them in for … a dollar. And, oh, that first kid dollar can buy anything. A helicopter. Your dead pet’s reanimation. An army of ninjas. That country on the news that you think sounds like I’veGotaStan but that your parents say is Afghanistan but that when you buy it you’ll rename I’veGotaStan because you’ve got a dollar and that’s how it’s gonna’ be from now on.

It’s no wonder businesspeople keep their first dollar earned. Even businesses that fail probably wait until the last possible moment before cracking open that frame and shipping the first dollar off to the bill collector. For the optimistic, be they children or entrepreneurs, a dollar is everything.

I wonder if dollar stores keep their first dollar. Is that too predictable? Too cute? I bet they don’t. Dollar stores exist because of a far more adult, far more cynical view of the dollar. A dollar is nothing, they imply. Look at me, says a candle on the shelf. I don’t look like much, but I’m only a dollar. A dollar is nothing. You don’t need me but you don’t need that dollar either so let’s help this cashier in the humiliating vest make quota tonight. And look, I have a matching plate, says the candle. It’s only a dollar.

Yes, these are hard times for the dollar but let’s show it a little respect. You can do a lot with a dollar and if you’re smart, dollars beget more dollars. That’s the beauty of the system, the genius of hard work combined with compounding interest. It all works perfectly so long as we have faith in the Almighty Dollar. An illusion perhaps, but the dollars that visit my bank account every two weeks keep my lights on. Shine on, Mr. Washington.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Read more or contact him at www.minnesotabrown.com.

Taking Requests: Minnesota Steel, sure thing or just a myth?

This is the third and, for now, final installment of the randomly occasional "Taking Requests" segment, in which I blog about Range issues on the minds of MinnesotaBrown readers. Today's topic, at the prompting of a couple e-mails I've received, is the Minnesota Steel project near Nashwauk.

For the past decade, the biggest of all the "proposed" economic development projects on the Iron Range has been the Nashwauk steel plant. It's gone through a few name changes and the details have shifted somewhat, but the idea has always been pretty consistent. Let's take the ore from the Iron Range and turn it directly into steel right here, saving transportation and processing costs and making American steel more competitive in the global marketplace. For a region that has depended on reliable blue collar jobs like mining and manufacturing, the prospect of union steel mill jobs has been a tantalizing possibility.

This is not a new idea. Some in my family remember the idea of turning the old Butler Taconite site near Nashwauk into a direct-reduced mine and steel mill shortly after they closed the Butler plant in the early 1980s ('83, I think, but my Iron Range Almanac of Plant Closures is in the other room). Today the Minnesota Steel plant is closer to reality than ever. It has its permits. It has an owner, India's Essar Global, that is experienced in steel making and international finance. It enjoys widespread political and and public support, more so than any other big proposed economic development project on the Iron Range. It also would provide more jobs than any other project and, to me, makes the most logical sense. Why not make the steel here when the ore product is already all heated up and ready to go.

GOOD NEWS (for Minnesota Steel proponents)

• Minnesota Steel secured its permits. In addition to being necessary this also puts the mine/steel plant first in line for construction, ahead of other projects. The untold story in all this development on the Range is that at some point the federal EPA is going to say "no mas" because of our proximity to the protected Voyageurs and the Boundary Waters parks. Provide it's built in the next year or two, the steel project will avoid this barrier.


• There are, according to a state official, eight engineers from Essar working in Hibbing on pre-construction preparations for the first phase of construction at Nashwauk. These are Essar regulars, not contracted engineers, which to me implies seriousness.


• Despite the bad economy, steel prices are still high and the fundamental motivation for building a direct-reduced steel mill on the Range remains intact.

BAD NEWS (for Minnesota Steel proponents)

• Lots of talk, no shovels. Which means that for all the progress over the past two years there are still the same number of steel plants on the Iron Range as in 1983: zero


• The reason for no groundbreaking is a delay in Essar's financing, caused in part by global trouble in the banking sector. That global trouble isn't going away any time soon, so the worry is that this delay could last longer than we're being told.


• The longer the Minnesota Steel construction is delayed, the greater the risk that the current favorable steel market will enter it's cyclical downward trend and add further financial barriers to the plant's success.


• Howard Hilshorst, the northern Minnesota mining executive brought in to steer the project, is no longer with the company. I still don't know why. Some fear that without a strong local voice inside the room with the Essar executives Iron Range interests might not be represented as well. I still don't think Hilshorst's departure is a signal of devastation for the project because there are engineers working on the Range and there remain Iron Rangers doing political work on this; but that's still not the same as an executive with Iron Range ties.


• Essar also recently bought a low grade steel mill in northern Michigan that functions much like the steel mill proposed for Nashwauk is supposed to. The company itends to begin its northern Minnesota operations by shipping concentrate to Michigan much the way all other Iron Range ore products are shipped east. This begs the unanswered question, "will they follow though in building the Iron Range steel mill if the Michigan option works?" I've heard that Essar has signed papers on steel-making equipment intended for Nashwauk, but we won't know what the company really plans to do until they start construction. A company representative has told the media that the phased introduction of steel-making was always part of the plan, but that's a fairly predictable response.

Now there are some in the environmental community who would rather the whole thing go away, but this project -- unlike Excelsior Energy or even the mineral mines on the east Range -- enjoys wide support. Despite my environmental concerns and my outspoken position against public boondoggles, I still think the steel mill is a good thing for the Iron Range. As the cereal commercials say, it could be part of "this balanced breakfast" so long as we remember to include some metaphorical fruit, orange juice and granola in our economic mix.

We'll see what happens in coming months. If we don't have financial close and groundbreaking by this summer this project can be considered far less certain than we Iron Rangers have been hoping. The fundamental truth remains: Minnesota Steel isn't real until shovels start digging.

Brown on the Air: "The Almighty Dollar"

My weekly essay for KAXE's "Between You and Me with Heidi Holtan" will cover the value of a dollar as the show topic asks "What can you get for a buck?" My thoughts range from international currency to Zimbabwe to crappy stuff you can buy at the dollar store. Ideally, this will make more sense when you hear it. An expanded version of my radio essay will run as my Sunday column in the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

Tune to 91.7 FM or set your browser to http://www.kaxe.org/ between 10 a.m. and noon on Saturday to hear "Between You and Me" and check out Sunday's Hibbing Daily Tribune for the column.

Taking Requests: Range Retail Rumors

I'm working down my list of "Questions and Request" posts. This is Day 2 of the series. If you have a request, please let me know in the comments or by e-mail.

Jeff writes:

How about commenting on all of the rumors in Hibbing. Every time you turn around there is another rumor about Target, Sam's Club, Best Buy, Scheel's etc. etc. The list goes on and on. Being a "Man in the Know" Maybe you could shed a little light on these rumors.

A good question. Here's one thing I do know. When the end times come, the only life on the Iron Range will be soft, green lichens clinging to the sides of the mine dumps feeding off the pure carbon dioxide of the air and the dim light of a dull, red, motionless sun that hangs low in the horizon. There will be no wind or sound. The air will be cold but the ground strangely warm to the touch. And one day, one lichen will say to another lichen, "I hear we might get a Target." "Yeah," the other lichen will say. "I heard that, too."

I've heard all these retail rumors and have seen the posts on Range gossip sites like this one. I don't have any inside information other than what I've heard from various economic development types over the years. Range cities, Iron Range Resources and others will receive inquiries from all kinds of companies (Yes, including Target, Kohl's and you name it). Information is provided to these companies about zoning, traffic, population, incentive programs and the like. Then companies work in secret until the moment they begin the construction process, which usually comes in the form of a request to the zoning commission or the signing of a lease. In advance, property is usually purchased or held by some kind of real estate company until the final decisions are made. There are many lots in Hibbing currently held by third party companies while these big retail outfits decide if they'll build there or not. That's what fuels all the rumors, coupled with the fact that many companies go so far as to send officials to town to investigate (eg: "OMG, a guy from Kohl's totally stayed at the Super 8 last night!")

I've heard recently that some retail stores looking at the Hibbing area are very close to making a decision (I've heard Target, I've suspected Sam's Club because of some market research that was being conducted at the Hibbing Wal-Mart about a year ago). But the really good information isn't held in any city hall; it's held in the board rooms of these private companies. And if things move slowly I'm betting that the current economic fears seen across the country are only making them move slower. Word is that Lowes, which built a home improvement store in Hibbing last year, is under performing. That might just be the economy as I've heard from Range contractors who aren't getting nearly as many bid requests for next summer as they have in years past. That's based on anecdotes, not evidence, but it's a working theory.

Speaking of the global economic crisis, I'll visit the issue of the delay in the Minnesota Steel project near Nashwauk in my next "Fill a Request" post tomorrow. Don't worry, folks. These glum subjects don't have to depress us. Everything will be OK so long as Busch Light remains affordable.

Wide open spaces (will build to suit)

The Duluth News-Tribune reports today on the practice of public entities building speculative buildings on the Iron Range to attract business. The appeal, according to the stories sources (all governmental), is that these buildings are modern, attractive and can be customized at public expense for any company willing to sign a long term deal that involves new jobs.

Public involvement in the economic development process remains necessary and wise. And you know I'm all about jobs and new growth on the Range. Still, I wonder why these projects always seem to favor expensive new buildings on the edge of town as opposed to the regeneration of vast amounts of empty buildings and spaces inside our Range towns. In a sense, this is a smaller scale version of the same zoning problem that many urban and exurban communities face.

And people do notice. I often provide informal "immersion counseling" for people new to the Range. One political operative new to the area noticed the same spec building discussed in today's DNT, the giant building by the Hibbing airport, on his way into town. "What's the deal with that?" was an approximation of his comment, as even this outsider could recognize the stank of economic desperation that the building seemed to kick out. The empty building has also been the subject of water cooler talk around the central Range since it was built. At $1.6 million, the investment by public entities in that building is enormous. While I understand the desire to create managed growth, I can't help but think certain buildings like this one are a little heavy on dreaming and a little light on long term planning.

I still think the best strategy for community growth includes strong, attractive infrastructure. The kinds of companies that swoop in for low-cost customized buildings are the same that can swoop out just as easily. We want to create an environment where businesses develop independently and people live comfortably and prosperously. That may sound conservative but in practice it requires some very progressive action (eg. public investment in high speed internet and comprehensive highway and rail improvements).

May 8 PUC meeting could reveal fate of Mesaba boondoggle

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission will revisit the second phase of the Mesaba Energy Project Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Xcel at its May 8 meeting. Two major questions are to be answered. Will the PUC recognize Excelsior Energy's proposed coal-gas power plant as a "least cost" innovative project AND will they set a deadline for negotiations between Xcel and Excelsior to set prices?

An Administrative Law Judge, in an advisory ruling, told the PUC last fall that the Mesaba project is far too expensive to be in the public's interest. And Xcel doesn't need or want Excelsior's power. Unless the state PUC mandates that Xcel buy this overpriced power from this boondoggle yet-to-be-built power plant, there can be no project. This May 8 PUC meeting might be the beginning of the long overdue end of this economic development farce. Let's hope so, because if Excelsior gains new life through political dealings then Mesaba becomes an election issue that badly muddies the U.S. Senate race. I prefer not to think about that until May 8.

Minnesota Steel groundbreaking delayed

Financial close on Essar's Minnesota Steel plant has been delayed until May or even June, according to reports I'm hearing. I have confirmed this in Range political circles. The worldwide financial market is bad, so Essar is having trouble locking in on "financial close" for what would be the first iron to steel facility on the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota. The worldwide steel demand is holding steady so officials remain hopeful that this delay is only a formality. The danger is that the longer construction is delayed the greater the risk of the steel market slowing and further jeopardizing the financing. Wayne Nelson of Business North said something similar on 91.7 KAXE April 14. A report of a similar nature ran on WDIO last night.

On a more positive front, I have received word that several Essar engineers are working on the Iron Range right now on massive amounts of pre-construction planning. I hear they are Essar regulars, not locals that have been subcontracted. While not as good as a groundbreaking that is the next best possible news. Again, shovels in the ground are the only true indicator of a project go-ahead.

This project would be the biggest job creation project on the Iron Range in more than a decade and would solidify the region's place in the global steel market into the foreseeable future. The project isn't beloved by all, but it is by most, and the idea makes much more sense than several other economic development ideas currently out there.

Corn is for eating

I don't know that the world faces an economic crisis like some are saying but I will say this. If the United States does spiral into a major recession or depression it now appears that our decision to use one of our major food sources -- corn -- as a a major part of our fuel supply will be regarded as an historical blunder with blame to share by both political parties. I'll be looking into this a little more deeply in the next week.

Weathering the economic storm, Range style

Here is my weekly Hibbing Daily Tribune column for Sunday, March 30, 2008. I archive my columns at my writing homepage if you're interested in reading more.

Weathering the economic storm, Range style
By Aaron J. Brown, for the Hibbing Daily Tribune

So we’re in a recession, or a correction, or some other kind of “…tion” word indicating how two decades of buying SUVs with credit cards was kind of a stupid thing to do. Point is, the economy is going through a rough patch. People across the country are sitting around dinner tables wondering how to pay the bills. Today, Americans clip more coupons, fix their lawnmowers instead of buying new ones and select cheap domestic beers instead of expensive imported brews. In other words, Americans are learning what it’s like to be Iron Rangers.

I’m sure one could find evidence of how the nation’s credit crisis, excuse me, CREDIT CRISIS (Lasers! Lasers! Graphics! Lasers!) affects the Iron Range, too. We need to figure out how folks can borrow money responsibly without jeopardizing the country’s all-important banking sector. But frankly things are pretty much the same on the Iron Range, maybe even a little better than usual. We’ve got a few of them fancy strip malls and the tear-to-beer ratio at local bars is down to comfortable pre-globalization levels. We all assume that we could get laid off tomorrow but are bolstered by the hopes that the big new Whatever plant will begin hiring soon.

(On a related note, our son Henry has begun wearing a metal measuring cup on his head like a helmet and telling us, “I’m building a factory factory.” I always reply, “A factory that builds additional factories?” to which he replies, “Uh-huh.” So my question is when do I put him in a suit to lobby for government financing? Perhaps I digress).

Ups and downs are normal on the Iron Range. In this, nothing has changed since the Great Depression. Yes we see many nice potential developments and yes, I am a big proponent of modernizing this region. But let us not gloss over the fact that Rangers survive whether their leaders are competent visionaries or slack-jawed hacks. Survival is just what we do. So pardon my glib attitude when I yell at my TV, “How does it feel, Suburbia? Why don’t you rent out the top level of your McMansion!” This isn’t very empathetic of me, but I feel we Rangers have earned it.

Sometime around 2003, back when the domestic steel industry was suffering and the Iron Range economy languished, I accompanied my wife on a business trip to southern Minnesota. We were walking through the Spam Museum (yes, a tribute to the ambiguous meat product) in Austin, another town that knows hardship when meat sells low. One of the Spam guides, upon hearing where I was from, told me, “I’m sorry to hear about your economy.” He said this the way you might tell someone you were sorry about their dog dying, or that they had an inoperable tumor. Around the state one of the few things non-Rangers know about the Range is that our economy is probably bad and that they presume we have taken to eating the slowest and least productive of our uneducated children. Rangers know better but just once, for a moment, it’s nice to see that coin flipped.

I know that if the national economy slips further than it already has that the Iron Range will suffer too. We always do. If steel prices drop or biofuel projects don’t pan out, we know that the traditional sectors of our local economy will shrink as they have before. But at least we know that a little ingenuity can get us through to the other side. That’s something that a media-driven economic panic can’t teach you.

Aaron J. Brown is a columnist at the Hibbing Daily Tribune. Contact him and read his blog at http://www.minnesotabrown.com/.

The Iron Range's global connection

Though not providing any new information, regional editor Charles Ramsey has an informative piece in today's Mesabi Daily News explaining how the Iron Range is plugged into the global economy. A good refresher or backgrounder for those unfamiliar with Iron Range current events.

PS: Perhaps you've noticed, but you need to create an account if you wish to read full articles at the MDN, Hibbing Daily Tribune or any of the papers from the old Murphy McGinnis empire now owned by American Consolidated Media of Texas (actually Australia, but that's another story).

Help Wanted?

The Duluth News-Tribune has a story today about the estimated number of needed construction workers for the proposed mining projects on the Iron Range.

I'm tired of these stories. I want to see financial close and shovels in the ground before I dance a jig for developers.

Mining plans require thousands of workers
Jane Brissett, Duluth News Tribune

Thousands of construction jobs will be needed for copper, nickel and other metal mining on the Iron Range if those projects come to pass, representatives of three of the companies told a meeting of the Associated General Contractors of Minnesota in Duluth on Thursday.

Three companies — Franconia Minerals Corp., Duluth Metals and PolyMet Mining — will need more than 2,200 construction workers if they go ahead with full-scale production of copper, nickel, platinum, cobalt, silver, gold and palladium, speakers said at a lunchtime presentation at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.

Cliffs hires away Hibbing PUC utilities chief to run biomass; a flash of what's to come?

Today's Hibbing Daily Tribune reports that Hibbing Public Utilities general manager Jim Kochevar is taking a job with Cleveland-Cliffs to oversee that company's energy operations in Michigan. Kochevar was one of the leaders who developed the Laurentian Energy Authority, a biomass power generation project shared by the cities of Hibbing and Virginia. Cleveland-Cliffs recently announced plans to develop biomass power plants to provide electricity for its some of its mining operations. They're starting in Michigan, but I expect that if that works they'll be building similar plants in or around their Minnesota operations.

As a newspaper reporter, editor and radio host in Hibbing, I interviewed Jim Kochevar many times. My impression has always been that he's a straight-shooter who deals fairly with the public and press. I hope that his activity with Cliffs leads to the continued development of a market for our area wood products as part of a clean renewable energy strategy.

Picture the not-so-distant future of the Iron Range. Large mining and steel operations, cities and other large electricity customers each have their own biomass plants burning homegrown wood products from nearby forests. Additional power needs are met ably by existing Minnesota Power plants and hydroelectric power from Manitoba. When you factor in environmental upgrades at Minnesota Power's plants, we could see a major economic boom all the time while holding down the amount of carbon emissions in northern Minnesota.

At some point, probably in my lifetime, the Iron Range and northern Minnesota will receive a lot of attention for our vast supply of forests, fresh water and iron ore products. These are all things that will become more important if current climate, population and economic trends continue on their current paths. It'd be great if our region was ready, wide-eyed and sharp-witted about the challenges that will come with these changes.

Stay tuned.

Wassomatta Tech?

As fans of Bullwinkle know, Minnesota is home to the fictional college "Wassomatta U," where the famous moose received his education (and played football). Well, Bullwinkle's fictional, highly theoretical children (mooselets?) might be headed off to Wassomatta Tech.

During this election year, we're bound to hear plenty of criticism and debate about the federal "No Child Left Behind" program. Often, the debate centers on how the program's testing system fails to prepare students for real life or higher education.

Well, here on the Iron Range there is real concern that this testing-based system is leaving our region ill-prepared for the massive job turnover coming in many skilled technical or vocational fields. Local schools had been scaling back vocational education to almost nothing out of financial necessity. Now, there's a move to bring back a more modern vo/tech approach to our high schools and colleges.

In the 1970s and '80s, there was a sense that "shop" was the easy track in school. In our current economy, industrial jobs that last require great skill and lifelong training. On the Range, we need to change the old mindset. If we do, many local young people really will have the opportunity to stay in northern Minnesota to raise their families and build a comfortable life.

From Business North:

Range revival also revives vocational/tech education
By Richard Thomas

The Iron Range boom will create a huge demand for skilled labor, and for vocational and technical education. Yet over the past decade, the region’s public schools have reduced such programs — automotive, industrial technology, pre-engineering, healthcare and carpentry.

It’s the result of “the perfect storm,” said Roy Smith, regional workforce coordinator at Iron Range Resources.

The programs are expensive, require constant updating of equipment, and certified teachers are hard to find. The federal No Child Left Behind requirements emphasize standardized testing, which doesn’t measure knowledge of industrial arts. Schools have encouraged students to enter four-year colleges and fewer are going into vocational career education. Amid budget shortages and declining enrollment, these programs have been among the first on the chopping block.

In response, many companies already are recruiting nationwide, most aggressively from engineering schools, Smith said. “We’re going to see an influx of new blood from outside the region.”

Last year a collaboration of groups started the Applied Learning Initiative to revive
technical education. It’s a combined effort between Iron Range Resources, businesses, 17 school districts and five two-year colleges in Northeastern Minnesota.

Through the program, students may begin technical training in high school and have those credits accepted and counted at the college level. Local unions also count some of the training program hours toward required apprenticeship hours.

The initiative is funded by $3 million from the state and membership fees from participating institutions. Program administrators purchase the needed equipment and are reimbursed by state funds. The funding also is used for curriculum development and instructor training.

The Applied Learning Initiative will host a business and industry rally March 27 at Valentini’s Supper Club in Chisholm. The rally’s purpose will be “to ask the region what are the next steps to make sure we have a world class workforce,” said initiative coordinator Mark Adams.

People interested in attending may contact the Northeast Higher Education District office at 218-254-7977.

House bonding bill includes partial funds for key Range projects

The Minnesota House of Representatives' proposed bonding bill includes money for the Essar Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk and to abate the flood risk at the Canisteo Pit near Bovey. I hear that the governor is sticking to his guns about the creation of the Vermilion State Park I mentioned yesterday, however, which means that the funding that would be going to northern Minnesota will be spread thin.

One encouraging sign is that the House, Senate and Governor all recognize the need to fund the steel mill and Canisteo. Discouraging is the fact that none of them seem to fully fund the needs for these projects and that Iron Range leaders will have to track down other funding sources to get them done this year, probably from the rainy day fund at Iron Range Resources. Yes, that money is there for a reason, but it's one time regional money for a longrange project that will give a lot to the state as a whole. The steel mill alone will need another $30 million plus to make sure that the necessary infrastructure is in place for the company to being construction this spring.

Session battles cast eerie light

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) lashed out harshly after the legislature overrode his veto of the transportation bill. Today, the Senate is expected to oust Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau from her dual role as Transportation Secretary by denying her long-delayed confirmation. The Senate's bonding bill does not match the governor's (the House's bonding bill is expected soon).

It's not being said yet, but I wonder if this contentious environment, coupled with Pawlenty's possible national ambitions and the DFL legislature's hopes to win a veto-proof majority in the House next fall, could lead to a complete meltdown with no bonding bill and little else of note.

That's important because there are two vital Iron Range projects counting on bonding money -- the Essar Minnesota Steel plant near Nashwauk, which is permitted and waiting for the infrastructure money, and the dewatering of the Canisteo Pit, a flood risk located above Bovey.

The larger impasse might threaten these two generally agreed-upon items during this session.

Franken questions coal gas plant in the Bemidji Pioneer

Al Franken, DFL U.S. Senate candidate from Minnesota, gave an interesting interview to the Bemidji Pioneer. (No, Bemidji is not on the Iron Range but many of our people go to college and drink a lot of beer there, so it is a city of note).

Essentially, Franken was stressing his support of basic northern Minnesota issues like gun ownership rights, our natural resource economy and energy.

My favorite part of the story:

He's been asked about the Iron Range's current build-up and the need for more energy, with a "clean-coal" coal gasification plant proposed to generate power. While it seems Franken may oppose the plant, he says he supports the technology but is unsure if it's appropriate for that place at this time.

"The idea of coal gasification where you can sequester the CO2 is a technology that we ought to develop," Franken said. "I'm just not sure at that plant is the best project. We want to get the most bang for the buck, and you want to make sure it's sequestered properly."

The technology is needed, he said, as China and India put up a coal-fired plant once a week. It does no good for the United States to seek a zero-carbon footprint when the other two nations continue unabated with carbon emissions.

Yes, Al Franken actually recognizes the difference between a good "jobs" project and a bad "jobs" project. He is not drinking the Kool Aid on Excelsior Energy's boondoggle Mesaba Energy Project.

Range mining: another perspective

Mining. The Range. Sounds familiar, right? A friend sent me some links about mining on the western range that put a new perspective on some of the mining stories we report so often here on Minnesota's Iron Range. These are stories from the High Country News about some of the tough economic choices that need to be made by Western towns that had moved on from their old mining economies. The tone is dramatically different from what you see on Minnesota's Iron Range, where the mainstream opinion is to support as much new mining as possible.

Ruluctant Boomtown (a city in Arizona decides whether it wants to go back to mining after a decade without it)

A Rico Renaissance (a small town finds its tourism economy threatened by the return of mining companies)

Death of a Mine (a modern copper mine in Utah goes belly up after just two years; a warning for our current projects on the East Range?)

I am left with the thought that we Minnesota Rangers need to put a lot more irons in the fire than just mineral mining. These companies reliably follow the price of whatever mineral they mine. If the price goes down, so does the mine. It's good to have options.