Hibbing & Iron Range Economy (Bemidji, Grand Rapids: insurance, day care, find a job)

[601halfdozen0theother]

Originally Posted by Glenfield

but the wealth in which they traded came from the mines.

And most of the "wealth in which they traded" (guess that means "wealth they created") went to Minneapolis and Chicago and even New York. Very little of the wealth derived from the mines ever stayed on the Range.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by 601halfdozen0theother

And most of the "wealth in which they traded" (guess that means "wealth they created") went to Minneapolis and Chicago and even New York. Very little of the wealth derived from the mines ever stayed on the Range.

All I meant was the money that people spent in locally owned stores mostly came from paychecks from the mines.

[ElGringoLoco]

So what happens when the mines are depleted? Does Hibbing expect to sustain itself on past wealth from the mines? What is Hibbing doing to boost it's economy? Times are changing. Small businesses that were once reliant on wages from the mines built a healthy economy in the Iron Range, then what happened? Big box stores moved in and you could wait a little bit and see how long it would take for local small businesses to go out of business. What I'm askin you is, how do you expect to sustain living on something that is as unsustainable as the mines especially when you have over half the population shopping at big box stores buying foreign goods because they're cheaper?

[ElGringoLoco]

And it wasn't just a mass exodus of working class that left the Iron Range, it was young professionals, graduates, students, white collar and blue collar who could not find suitable jobs other than the mines or one of the 20 bars that line every main street. Generation Y (born 1980 to 1999) will have an even larger exit from the population of small towns as over 70% state they want to live in urban areas. Unless the Iron Range can retrofit and create new jobs it will see larger and larger exits. The area is ripe for new jobs and a new economy that is not solely reliant on the mines or big box stores, someone has just got to step up and do something new to engage the community and the local economy. Give people a reason to stay or come back and they will.

[demtion35]

"Give people a reason to stay or come back and they will" ^

Its been in the news lately, that they need highly skilled workers, real tough to fill those positions, guess its hard to find qualified persons.

Thoughts?

[ElGringoLoco]

What do the economies of the Iron Range have to offer highly skilled workers and their families? How many times can you eat at Zimmy's before you want something new and fresh? Do the qualified persons want to relocate to a town with 20 bars and a population of 16,000 or would they rather make their salaries in more urban settings that provide more options than chicken tenders and caesar salad for a night out or museums for recreation instead of a closed down mall and a Wal Mart? Build the economy back up to make it a place someone would like to go to, to shop, to eat, for recreation and leisure and most importantly education. The spots will be filled by qualified applicants, but will they warm to the town and set down roots there if the Range remains a monoculture of mining?

[ElGringoLoco]

Originally Posted by demtion35

"Give people a reason to stay or come back and they will" ^

Its been in the news lately, that they need highly skilled workers, real tough to fill those positions, guess its hard to find qualified persons.

Thoughts?

How much stability and certainty do the mines provide to highly skilled workers and their families? If they lose their jobs or get laid off, where would they work on the Range?

[601halfdozen0theother]

Well, the reality is that most of us who don't work for the mines (and Demtion is right, mining work now consists of a variety of skilled-labor specialties which pay quite well) work for the Feds or the State.

Friends of mine work for: the DNR, the schools, the hospitals, AEOA, the juvie prison in Buhl, social work, the library system, in real estate, for the nursing homes, and ummmm. Almost all of those are government jobs.

The other big employer is tourism. Lots of us work seasonally in tourism related fields.

Your point of big box stores and chains snuffing out local small businesses is true throughout America, not just on the Range. Actually, we have a lot of small businesses compared to many small towns in the U.S., since the chains can't make much money on our population.

You seem to be particularly worried about the bad restaurants (I'm with you on that one!) and lack of things to do. My bet is you're under 30! As you get older you'll see that every young person everywhere complains that there's nuthin' to do where they live.

I'm middle aged, and find there's too much stuff to do here! I'd love to go to every play, concert, art show and etc. in our area, but I don't have time. I'd love to be out fishing or hiking all the time, but can't. There's a ton of stuff to do here, both outdoors and indoors, if you just look. And if you want something else to do, get off your duff and start something - a good restaurant, a laser tag emporium, or whatever you think would be fun and draw a crowd.

Since I live both up here part of the year and another place in America part of the year (just FYI, I'm definitely working class, not rich) I have enough perspective to know that the complaint that the Range doesn't have a diverse enough economy is something that can be applied to most non-urban places in America.

The mines will stay active for decades. The wilderness will draw tourists for decades. And those of us who choose to live up here will continue to lead lives others in America only dream about. Just read the variety of forums on CD and you can learn that.

I WOULD like to shut about half the bars on the Range down, though!

[ElGringoLoco]

If I still lived up there, I would be fishing every day, job be damned. Both government jobs and real estate jobs rely heavily on local economy and population. Tourism is great, it's even better if you can get people to stay once they visit. I'm just shy of 30 and can tell you that the list of things to do in northern MN is endless and I honestly don't think that the residents of the range really care all that much if the towns get bigger or smaller, but it would be nice to see them expand a little bit and welcome in some new ideas and not rely on government or big box stores or the mines. That is where the problem came from in the first place after all. Government and resources and multinational corporations, the Range is small enough to make the concessions necessary so their local economy is not put in jeopardy again. They can build and expand and not have to rely on corporations who don't put the money back into the community. If you think that minimum wage spending back into the corporation is putting money into the local economy is working, it's not, even if it's a small amount of money, it'd be better off going to local businesses. To say that the mines keep the schools open is true because they need families in that community to have vested interests in the extraction of resources, but are the mines putting in their fair share for extorting the land? The list is endless to reasons why the Range should adopt a new way of thinking as it is across America. Yes by all means, open a restaurant or lazer tag or arcade or community garden. Anything that can strengthen their economy and not make them so reliant on the good fortunes of companies who could give two ****s less about them and their towns.

[Dr.drew]

The iron range, and the rest of northern Minnesota seems to be really struggling. The area seems to breed poverty. Kids who go off to college are leaving when they do that, and they rarely come back because they can find better jobs with their college degree in the Twin Cities or elsewhere. Even jobs up here that require a college degree, will pay less than those in the cities.