Traverse City Record-Eagle

Michigan

February 5, 2012

Snowblower tests moved to Michigan

Dearth of snow in Minn. means jobs for UP

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Associated Press

IRONWOOD (AP) — Less than typical snowfall in northern Minnesota has pushed lawn equipment manufacturer Toro into the Upper Peninsula to test some of its machines.

Toro has been testing snowblowers at Gogebic-Iron County Airport since Jan. 10, according to the Daily Globe in Ironwood.

Plans were to test the machines in Toro's home state, but not enough snow has fallen in Minnesota this winter. So the company looked east, and found the Michigan airport.

"When they called asking about doing the testing here, we had only about three inches of snow cover, but they said, 'We'll take it,'" airport manager Duane DuRay told the newspaper.

The lack of snowfall has frustrated snowmobilers, cross-country skiers and others in Minnesota this winter. One dogsled race scheduled for early January was canceled in December because organizers weren't sure if enough snow would have fallen in time. A dogsled marathon scheduled for late January also was called off.

But snow was piled two to three feet and higher last week at Gogebic-Iron County Airport in Ironwood, about 250 miles northeast of Toro's main office in Bloomington, Minn.

"They'll probably be here for two or three more weeks," DuRay said of Toro. "Their bosses love it. They said they'll put Ironwood on the map for future reference."

The company hired 10 local residents to test its snowblowers, he added.

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