Last week, MinnPost painted a challenging picture of the Iron Range (Iron Range on the ropes: Mining and school layoffs test the region’s resiliency — again). I won’t recap the whole article, but it outlines the latest (and history) of mine closures, the gaps between mining work wages and others in the area and some unfortunate, other unusual turns in the community. I did see some glimmers of sunlight in the final portion of the article, where technology was mentioned…

Farnsworth is looking to lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic as the next step for the Iron Range. Remote work caught on and stuck for many private industry employers — though some companies and the state have started requiring a return to in-office work — and rural areas benefited the most.

The CRPD’s annual State of Rural report in 2025 showed in-migration rates from Minnesota favored rural counties, which experienced modestly higher population rates in 2023 compared to 2020. It’s been a trend since the 2010s, mainly coming from urban counties and people seeking more affordable housing in the so-called lakes region.

That’s an attraction point for parts of the Iron Range region, Farnsworth said, and an opportunity. He envisioned building hundreds of affordable homes under $300,000 from Grand Rapids to Aurora, equipped with high speed internet, and letting the natural draws of lake life, less traffic and rural charms to lure metro-based remote workers.

In theory, it’s a simplistic equation for the region: More people to fill job vacancies, more families to boost school enrollment and — ideally  — less impact to the broader communities when the next downturn comes.

“We’ve been through worse and we’ll get through this,” he said. “The Iron Range has a lot of years of potential left.”