PILLAR 04 OF 05 Agenda Minnesota · The Indictment Series
The Charge — Documented. Bipartisan. Sixty Years Running.
One gate. Vending machines. 125 people maximum. That is the Iron Range's only commercial airport. Both parties. Six decades. The minerals leave on rail cars.
FAA NOTAM — KHIB RANGE REGIONAL AIRPORT HIBBING MN · WHAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAYS ABOUT THIS AIRPORT RIGHT NOW
DIVD ACFT LIMITATIONS - NO INTL PSGR PROCESSING. This airport cannot process international passengers. No customs. No border protection. A plane from another country cannot legally let passengers off here.
ONLY ONE ACR GATE. One gate. Total. The entire Iron Range commercial airport has a single door for boarding and deplaning.
LTD STERILE AREA SPACE (125 PSGRS). The secure area holds 125 people maximum. A Boeing 747 carries 400+. This airport physically cannot process one.
VENDING CONCESSIONS ONLY. No restaurant. No coffee shop. No retail. If you are waiting for a flight at the Iron Range's only commercial airport, there is a vending machine. That is the full amenity offering.
That NOTAM is not a campaign talking point. It is the federal government's own aeronautical database entry for the only commercial airport serving the Iron Range — a region sitting above two trillion to four trillion dollars in confirmed mineral wealth.

Japan is actively looking for non-Chinese sources of nickel and cobalt. South Korea's battery manufacturers need what Minnesota has. European industrial buyers are legally required to diversify away from Chinese mineral supply under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act. The buyers exist. The minerals exist. The airport that connects them does not.

For over a century, Iron Range minerals have left on rail cars to Duluth, been loaded onto ships, and been valued somewhere else — by someone else — for someone else's profit. Both parties watched that pattern continue. Neither one built the infrastructure to change it.
ONE
Commercial gate at the Iron Range's only airport
125
Maximum passengers in the secure area — FAA NOTAM
6,758
Feet — current primary runway · Cannot handle a loaded 747
2005
Year of the last airport master plan before 2024 — 19 years of drift
ZERO
International cargo flights ever operated from Hibbing
1,600
Acres of airport land already owned — the runway extension fits today
You can't fix a problem
with the same mind
that created it.
"For over a century the Iron Range produced minerals and watched the value leave. An international airport in Hibbing means the buyers fly in instead of waiting for the shipment. That is not a metaphor. That is a supply chain transformation."
Brad Kohler · Candidate for Governor of Minnesota · 2026
↓ What sixty years built — and what replaces it
The verdict — what sixty years of both parties built for the Iron Range
One gate. Vending machines.
The minerals leave by rail.
That is the documented record.
The Iron Range has produced iron ore and taconite for over a century. The processing, the shipping decisions, the refining, the supply chain management, and the profit from all of it have been handled somewhere else. Both parties governed during every decade of that arrangement. Neither one built the infrastructure to change the fundamental dynamic — that the Iron Range produces and the world profits.
Hibbing Airport today — what 60 years built
The federal government's own description of the Iron Range's connection to the world.
Runway length6,758 ft
Commercial gatesONE
Sterile area capacity125 people
International processingNONE
ConcessionsVending only
International cargo flightsZERO — ever
Annual enplanements (2023)11,775
Commercial routes servedMSP only
Federal subsidy requiredEAS — without it, no flights
Last master plan2005 — 19 years ago
Kohler plan — what changes on Day One
The logistics backbone of a two-trillion-dollar mineral economy connecting Iron Range copper to Tokyo.
Runway length10,000 ft — B747-8F capable
Commercial gatesExpanded terminal
Passenger processingInternational capable
International processingFull CBP cargo + arrivals
Cargo terminalBonded warehouse · Full customs
National Guard installationTitle 32 · 95% federal funded
Routes servedMSP + Tokyo · Seoul · Rotterdam
Guard FTE positions500+ permanent high-wage
Total jobs — full build7,000–11,000
HIB's share of runway cost~$2.25M on $45M extension
The connection that changes everything
The minerals need the airport. The airport needs the minerals. Both have been waiting for the same governor.
Japan is the largest consumer of critical minerals outside China. South Korea hosts three of the world's largest battery manufacturers. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act legally requires European industrial buyers to diversify away from Chinese mineral supply by 2030. All three are looking for what Minnesota has — nickel, cobalt, copper, and platinum group metals. An international cargo terminal in Hibbing means the transaction happens at the source. The Iron Range stops shipping raw material and starts controlling the supply chain. Executives from Tokyo and Seoul fly into Hibbing to negotiate at the mine gate instead of at a port somewhere else.
🇯🇵
Japan
Largest critical mineral consumer outside China · IEA 2025
Actively investing in overseas supply chain diversification. Needs what Minnesota has. Currently buying from China, Russia, and Indonesia.
🇰🇷
South Korea
Second-largest critical mineral consumer outside China
Three of the world's largest battery manufacturers. Documented strategy to reduce DRC cobalt dependence. Minnesota cobalt is the alternative they need.
🇪🇺
European Union
Critical Raw Materials Act — 25% non-Chinese sourcing by 2030
47 strategic projects approved in 2025. Legally required to buy from allied nations. Minnesota qualifies. Rotterdam is the hub. HIB connects to it.
The buyers are waiting.
The minerals are confirmed.
The only thing missing is an airport that can handle them.
The resolution — 3,242 feet of runway changes everything
The land already exists.
The funding framework exists.
The will has been missing for 60 years.
Hibbing Airport sits on 1,600 acres. The land for the runway extension is already inside the airport boundary — no acquisition required. The FAA Airport Improvement Program funds 90% of eligible capital costs. The Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority's share of a $45 million runway extension is approximately $2.25 million. The master plan study to support the federal application has been underway since May 2024. Every prerequisite exists. The only missing element has been a governor who treats it as a priority.
Today — 6,758 ft · Regional jets only
6,758 ft ←————————————————→
Aircraft capabilityRegional turboprops · Narrow-body jets
Can handle a loaded 747?NO
International cargo flightsZERO
Connection to mineral economyNONE
Kohler plan — 10,000 ft · B747-8F capable
10,000 ft ←————————————————————————→ (+3,242 ft extension)
Aircraft capabilityB747-8F international cargo
Can handle a loaded 747?YES
International cargo flightsTokyo · Seoul · Rotterdam
Connection to mineral economyDIRECT — buyers fly in
You can't fix a problem with the same mind that created it.
The number that should make your jaw drop
A 10,000-foot international cargo runway. 7,000 to 11,000 jobs. An airport that connects the Iron Range to Tokyo, Seoul, and Rotterdam.
Hibbing Airport Authority's share of a $45M runway extension
$2.25M
That is what it costs the Iron Range to build an international airport.
90%
FAA pays this · Federal taxpayer money that exists whether Minnesota uses it or not
5%
State of Minnesota pays this · ~$2.25M on a $45M project
5%
Hibbing Airport Authority · ~$2.25M · The Iron Range's share of the entire project
95% Federally Funded
National Guard operations at HIB under Title 32. 500+ permanent high-wage Guard positions. The federal government pays for almost all of it.
7,000–11,000 Jobs
Construction + permanent ops + Guard + induced regional employment. From a $2.25M local investment.
The federal money exists. The land exists. The master plan is underway.
The same minds just never made it a priority.
For 60 years Minnesota has elected the same problem — Democrats and Republicans alike.
During those 60 years the Iron Range produced minerals and watched the value leave on rail cars. Japan needed nickel. South Korea needed cobalt. Europe needed platinum. Minnesota had all of it. The airport to connect them did not exist. Both parties governed while that continued. One gate. Vending machines. 125 people maximum. That is what was built.
That's unacceptable.
While Iron Range minerals left on rail cars
and the world bought from someone else —
is a vending machine airport
the Minnesota you want?
Read the Full Case → Back to the Road Map
Sources: FAA NOTAM KHIB current cycle · Range Regional Airport Master Plan Working Papers · FAA AIP (faa.gov/airports/aip) · AirTAP University of Minnesota · IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 · EU Critical Raw Materials Act 2024 · Boeing 747-8F performance specifications
Agenda Minnesota — All Five Pillars
01 · Duluth Complex 02 · Bakken Oil 03 · Safe Schools 04 · Hibbing Airport 05 · Cheap Energy