Business View Magazine | July 2019

125 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2019 think we have done that. There was an economic impact study done by the University of Wisconsin- Superior in late 2017, which showed the Airport is responsible for more than $15 million being generated annually for the local economy.” Credit for the idea of an airport at Hibbing is given to Professor R.F. “Shorty” Davis, who was an automotive instructor at the Hibbing Junior College. In 1927, Mr. Davis purchased a Waco biplane and, after taking a course in flying in Minneapolis, started a flying school using the Fair Grounds as a runway. A year later, he realized they would need more room and bought a 160-acre tract at the current site. Davis soon organized the Minnesota Flying Service which, in addition to providing flight training, offered short sightseeing tours and long-distance charter trips. The Airport was dedicated on the Fourth of July 1931, with the Hibbing Daily Tribune reporting that over 25,000 people - “the biggest crowd to ever participate in a local celebration” - helped dedicate the municipal landing field. In 1994, Range Regional became a modern airport when state legislature authorized an independent airport authority with members elected from Hibbing and Chisholm. Since then, the Airport has benefited from multi-million dollar grant projects, enhancing the field with a 6,758’ x 150’ primary runway, a 3,075’ x 75’ crosswind runway, and dual opposing instrument landing systems on runway 13/31. “Like most places, Range Regional was used for some military training by the Air Corps in the ‘40s,” says Germolus. “Then, we began airline service with Wisconsin Central Airlines and that service continues with Delta Connection through SkyWest Airlines, conducting daily flights on the CRJ200 to Minneapolis-Saint Paul. There are also charter flights through Sun Country Charters to the Riverside Resort and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada on a Boeing 737-800, every four to six weeks.” The Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority is unique in that it is also the Fixed Base Operator, while at the same time running a second facility, the Carey Lake Seaplane Base, located three miles north of the Airport. “We use a large, front-end loader with 20-foot forks to pick up planes and we bring them RANGE REGIONAL A I RPORT