Winters in International Falls may be cold, but it’s the warm reception the community gives to its visitors that keeps them coming back year after year.
At least that’s Paul Nevanen’s theory on why the area has been so successful in cold weather testing.
Nevanen, the director of the Koochiching Economic Development Authority, which manages the cold weather testing facility located near the Falls International Airport, said the best way to measure the effectiveness of the cold weather testing industry in Borderland is customers keep coming back.
“I came on board in 2001 and some of the relationships we built with folks back then has really stuck and a handful of them are still here,” Nevanen said.
And some relationships testers have with the community are a little more unique.
Spencer Pearson, a 2006 Rainy River Community College and Falls High School graduate, is a product development engineer for International Trucks, which operates under its parent company, Navistar, based in Lisle, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. The company utilizes one of the two cold boxes at the cold weather testing facility at the Falls International Airport and this is Pearson’s second testing season in his hometown.
“We love the facility here because of the temperature control,” Pearson said of the cold box. “Compared to the other cold boxes there are (in the country), this facility has phenomenal temperature control.”
He said other cold boxes fluctuate in temperature, but the Falls’ box holds the frigid air well.
“Consistency is what we need,” he added. “If we make a change to a calibration and test it the next day, we need to make sure we’re starting at the exact same temperature.”
Pearson’s comments echo that of many big-name automotive companies across the world, Nevanen said.
“We have people come from Germany, Korea, United Kingdom, Australia...all over,” he said. “We really meet a lot of interesting people.”
While Pearson said he misses his wife, Emily, who remains in Chicago, he enjoys being able to spend so much time in International Falls working at a job he loves.
“It is great to be able to come back home for work,” Pearson said. “By the end of December, which is when we’re done with our testing campaign, I will have been in International Falls for work about five and a half months this year alone...And I get to stay with my mom and dad when I come here.”
The journey begins
After graduation in 2006, Pearson went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in automotive engineering technology from Mankato State University. Having been a mechanic most of his life, Pearson said the degree was a good fit and he looked forward to entering the workforce. However, he said, the economy in 2009 didn’t present any opportunities in his field right away, so he moved back to International Falls to work at Carlson’s Auto and Falls Lumber.
In 2010, Pearson was introduced to Nevanen, who brought Pearson to meet with representatives of Navistar at the testing site.
“I gave them my resume and they sent it back to Chicago,” Pearson said. “The rest is history.”
Pearson is now working in the future product development division of his company, which is what brings him to International Falls.
“We work on different emission testing during different drive cycles,” Pearson said of one of the many components of his job.
His colleague, Nick Mukkada, who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, said he has been with the company for seven years, but this is his first time working in International Falls.
“I like it here,” he said. “The people are really nice.”
Nevanen stressed it is the relationships the community creates with the cold weather testing companies that keeps them coming back.
“(Testers) are able to fly right into town, they have hotels to stay in, restaurants to eat in, we have everything they need,” Nevanen said.
Mukkada said he has traveled to many cities, but International Falls is a destination he prefers.
“Last night, when I dropped Spencer off at his house, we had apple crisp with his family. You don’t get that anywhere else,” he said. “Driving down the road, I wave at people and they wave back, you definitely don’t get that in Chicago.”
Economy booster
Nevanen said Pearson’s story is one of at least two that involves locals coming full circle — growing up in Borderland and returning for work in the cold weather testing field.
Nevanen said when he started managing the facility, he reached out to Steve Smerika, a high school classmates who was interning with a General Motors power train group.
“I called him up, he gave us a look and he was able to convince his superiors to bring a (testing) group to International Falls,” he said. “Having GM here really started a chain reaction.”
Nevanen said he estimates cold weather testing last year netted about $1 million in revenue for the community.
“We try to document and track how much money is brought in as best we can,” he said.
This year, eight customers are scheduled to use the site and its facilities. Nevanen said “that is a good number,” and anticipates just as much or more revenue to be generated this testing season.
“The atmosphere we create out at our site is only one component to why cold weather testing is so successful here,” Nevanen concluded. “It really comes down to this community.”
