It’s that most wonderful time of year again as we launch into the Holidays – a time to celebrate family traditions and embrace the smells, sounds, and tastes that make this time so special. It’s also a time for reflection and anticipation of a new start in the coming year. Here in Koochiching County, we’re dressed up in fresh snow and preparing for the Holiday season amid the backdrop of incredible winter beauty in the North country, thankful that we’re able to live and play here.
In this Holiday newsletter, we’ll provide an update on projects moving forward in the County, highlight a local business that makes the most of all of the seasons, meet a couple that moved their family here and made the most of getting involved, and feature a local snowmobile club that is passionate about maintaining a large trail system.
From all of us here at the KEDA Office, we want to wish everyone a safe and memorable Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year.
Projects Moving Forward.
Cantilever Distillery and Boutique Hotel. After much anticipation, the Cantilever Distillery and Hotel will be opening the second week in January. The 31-room boutique hotel (part of the Wyndham Hotel Group) and distillery will begin hosting visitors with a unique look and atmosphere in downtown Ranier. The hotel will feature a roof top hot tub and sauna, yoga space, small group meeting space with state-of-the-art technology, a restaurant and tasting areas. Many of the rooms will provide views of Rainy Lake and Rainy River. The facility pays homage to the area’s rich history including the namesake 100 year-old cantilever rail bridge that connects Ft. Frances, Ontario to Ranier and was a major corridor for bringing in liquor during prohibition. The distillery began production in November and will produce gin, vodka, and bourbon embracing the grain to glass movement by sourcing as many of the ingredients locally and regionally. For more information go to: www.cantileverdistillery.com.
International Falls Business Park. UPS began operations in its’ new building in the International Falls Business Park in early November. The 9,600 square foot structure was custom built for UPS by local businessman Rick Roche and incorporated technology and conveyor systems to improve productivity and efficiency. UPS employs 11 full and part-time employees.
Your Ticket Home. The KEDA launched the “Your Ticket Home” campaign in early December. The campaign is a workforce and family recruitment strategy targeting 25-40 year-olds that were former residents or who had connections to the area. The effort is designed around a two-part strategy – first the creation of a website: www.yourtickethome.org, that provides an opportunity for people to enter their contact and career information as well as posting current job and business opportunities available in the county. Once contact information is compiled a data base will be created. This leads to the second part of the strategy which will be driven by social media and will highlight the positive attributes about living and working in Koochiching County. Multiple messages featuring short videos, news, and events from throughout Koochiching County will be directed to those on the data base. To encourage participation, the KEDA offered an opportunity to win a $500 air travel voucher to Koochiching County for those that sign up. According to KEDA Director Paul Nevanen, the campaign focuses on younger people that, given the right opportunity, would return to the area. It will also play off of the emotional ties to family and the quality of life issues that makes Koochiching County attractive.
For more information on the KEDA and Koochiching County, visit our website – www.businessupnorth.com.