Above: U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar made a quick visit to Lutsen on May 5 to meet with area business leaders and governmental officials to discuss areas where she might be able to help the county. Meeting with the senator were (L-R) Jim Boyd, Scott Harrison, Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Tom Rider, Heidi Doo- Kirk, Linda Jurek Kratt, and Hal Greenwood. Left: Tom Rider shows Senator Klobuchar where the hoped-for expansion of the ski hill will occur.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was running a little bit late, but she was all smiles as she hopped on board one of the new gondolas at Lutsen Mountains to ride to Moose Mountain where she met with Cook County leaders in the Summit Chalet for brunch and friendly conversation.
At the mountain top meeting on Thursday, May 5, Senator Klobuchar was brought up to speed on the county’s broadband build out and sales; the ongoing work to build affordable workplace housing, the trouble employers are having with the H2B visa program; the plan to double the size of Lutsen Mountain ski area, and the accomplishments of Visit Cook County, the county’s tourism entity.
Meeting with the senator were Lutsen Resort Owner Scott Harrison; Lutsen Mountains Co-owner Tom Rider; Cook County Chamber Director Jim Boyd; Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux; Visit Cook County Director Linda Jurek Kratt; County Commissioner Heidi Doo- Kirk and Cook County/ Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) Board Member Hal Greenwood.
Senator Klobuchar listened as Harrison, who serves on both the EDA and Arrowhead Cooperative boards, spoke about the county’s broadband project.
Four years ago Senator Klobuchar helped the county and Arrowhead obtain $20 million in Rural Utilities Service telecommunication grants and loans to help pay for the $21,601,249.12 project.
Currently, said Harrison, business has been good with 2,071 Internet connections and 1,188 phone connections added to the cooperative’s True North network.
Mayor Arrowsmith DeCoux said the city was installing a workplace incubator at city hall for businesses that need space with high speed Internet. Other locations to install computer “hotspots” are being looked at throughout the county, said Arrowsmith DeCoux.
Senator Klobuchar commended the county on its early success with broadband and said she was glad she could lend a helping hand.
Work visas and workforce housing
Next Harrison discussed a problem faced by many North Shore employers, finding workers. Pointing to declining student enrollment and a population with a median age of 51, Harrison said there aren’t enough young people to fill all of the positions needed to run the many seasonal businesses in the county.
“Lutsen Resort employs 90 people year-round between full- and part-time,” said Harrison. “In the summer our numbers increase by 50-plus. Within an 8-mile radius from Lutsen Resort, there are three additional businesses operating with the same staffing need.”
Harrison said students enrolled in universities in their home country want to travel to the United States, to see the country and earn some money. And, he said without the ability to hire these foreign workers, area resorts could not meet their hiring needs.
He explained the difficulties businesses are facing with temporary work visas, especially the cap on the number of workers allowed on the H2B visa program.
“We rely heavily on foreign workers and the H2B program isn’t working for us. It’s gotten worse,” Harrison said.
“I am almost certain we will be dealing with immigration reform this year,” Senator Klobuchar said. “I will look into the H2B program and see what I can do.”
Just where to house young families and foreign workers that fill these tourism-related jobs is also a big problem for Cook County, said Harrison.
To that end the EDA is looking at building some affordable workforce housing in Lutsen. Harrison said he has invested over one million dollars in providing housing for Lutsen workers, and he cited other businesses who have done the same, but it wasn’t enough.
Senator Klobuchar asked about revitalizing older homes to use for workforce housing, but Commissioner Doo-Kirk replied, “Cook County is generational. When grandma moves out of the house, the kids move in. Those houses aren’t usually available.”
“This is a huge problem for a lot of areas,” said Klobuchar. “I will try to get a feel for what the USDA [United States Department of Agriculture Rural Housing] is doing and get back to you.”
Lutsen Mountains expansion considered
Holding a map of Lutsen Mountains, Tom Rider showed the senator the location of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land adjoining the ski hill that his company is currently trying to lease.
“The ski resort is currently located on 1,000 acres of private land,” said Rider. “We propose to lease 550 acres of adjacent Forest Service land; the expansion would take many years and ultimately double the ski terrain.”
Should the lease be approved, Rider said ski runs and base facilities will be designed to address new trends in skiing/snow boarding, etc. He said the addition of the new gondolas at a cost of about $7 million was met with good customer response but he added, the sustainable level of annual skier visits for Lutsen has grown from 30,000 to 80,000 to 150,000.
“For us to survive, thrive, compete, we need more skiers,” he said.
Rider said Alpine skiing represents 70 percent of winter tourism sales in Cook County, essential winter revenue for area resorts and support businesses.
Rider said that the USFS is well versed in leasing land for ski resorts with nearly every western ski resort located on USFS land.
Rider noted the competitiveness of the industry. “We decided we need to get bigger. It’s grow or die,” said Rider. “We have laid the groundwork to secure our future. We have submitted a master plan to the Forest Service and put in an application to lease the land.”
Along with that lease process there will be an environmental review and public input, he said.
Senator Klobuchar said she would leave the meeting with three assignments. One, she would see what she could do to lend her support to the Lutsen Mountains lease application. Two, she would see what she could do to improve the H2B visas, and three, she would meet with officials from the USDA Rural Housing department to see about securing funding for workplace housing.
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