Breakfast Connections Recap: MnDOT Virginia HQ Job Site

 

 

October 14, 2026

 

Breakfast at the MnDOT Virginia headquarters job site

This morning’s Breakfast Connections took members inside one of the biggest construction projects on the Range, the new MnDOT Virginia headquarters. Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) hosted us at the District 1 job site at 101 Hoover Road.

The $86 million project replaces a truck station built in 1959 and added onto in 1993, along with all of its outbuildings. MnDOT is rebuilding on the same site while its crews keep working there, which is no small feat. LHB designed the facility and AP is building it. (MnDOT project page)

 

MnDOT Virginia headquarters project update

The new salt shed is finished and in use, and the main building is on track to wrap up in November 2027. AP’s team walked us through where things stand.

Safety comes first on this site. AP’s safety culture is built around one goal: everyone goes home safe to their friends and family at the end of the day. Every visitor gets walked through safety before stepping on site.

 

The salt shed, the first finished piece of the MnDOT Virginia headquarters, sits just north of the existing building. It’s a prefabricated system. Its steel was made in pieces offsite, delivered with the fabric, and assembled on site by steel installers. AP turned it over about a month ago, and MnDOT crews are already working salt out of it. Side by side with the old shed, it’s quite the upgrade.

 

The new MnDOT Virginia headquarters will include:

• Maintenance and repair shops with bridge cranes and vehicle lifts
• A welding room
• Conference rooms and office space
• Warm vehicle storage

 

Once the main building is done in November 2027, AP will help MnDOT move in. At the same time, crews will build five outbuildings, finishing in October 2028. All told, the site will have about 175,000 square feet of space.

 

If you’ve driven by the MnDOT Virginia headquarters lately, you’ve seen the change. Precast panels are going up now to enclose the building. Structural steel is already on site, with steel, joists and deck going in starting next week and roofing right behind, so the building can be closed in for winter.

Aaron Kelly of LHB gave credit to AP and MnDOT for fitting a full headquarters onto a tight, existing site and staging materials around ongoing operations. MnDOT secured about $2.32 million for design in 2020 and $83.85 million in bonding for construction in 2023.

 

Member and guest updates

As always, everyone in the room got a turn. Here’s what we heard.

 

 

Steven Johnson, City of Virginia. Steven is excited to see this property upgraded. The city has built two buildings of its own in recent years, and projects like this keep making Virginia a better place to be. Reach out to him with city questions.

Tucker Nelson, North St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity. Tucker thanked the Virginia City Council for approving the city’s newest plat in the Ridgewood neighborhood, which will let Habitat build five new homes this year and next. Houses will be finished over the winter, with more starting next year. Anyone can help build, and Tucker can connect you with volunteer opportunities.

Emily Hishland, Approve Home Services. Emily’s team offers residential plumbing and electrical services and is moving into HVAC. They are hiring in all three areas, so send job seekers their way.

Linda Scott and Emma Byram, The Title Team. The signs are up and The Title Team is officially open, handling closings out of its Virginia office. The office serves Virginia, Hibbing, the East Range and Ely. If you know anyone buying, selling or refinancing, or working on a commercial project, connect them with Linda or Emma.

Brad Gustafson, Laurentian Chamber Past Chair. Brad plugged the Gary Carlson Memorial Curling Funspiel on December 11 at Curl Mesabi. Registration is open online. Come curl, network and spend the day with good people.

Jake Grass, Youth for Christ. Jake works with sixth through 12th graders. The program launched four years ago, opened in Nashwauk and Cherry last school year, and plans to be at Mesabi East by the end of this school year.

Steve Rahkola, Northridge Community Credit Union. Northridge has launched its school debit cards, which carry a school logo and send a portion of each purchase back to that school. Mesabi East and Mountain Iron-Buhl are signed up, and Northridge is working to add more schools. Holiday loans open next month for anyone who needs a little extra help getting through the season affordably.

Aaron Kelly, LHB. Aaron is the architect on the MnDOT project and leads LHB’s government group. LHB is based in Duluth and works on projects across the region. Aaron is a past board president of the Duluth Chamber and is interested in staying connected to opportunities on the Range.

Ceasar Ortega, Discover the Range and Hello Range. Discover the Range is the Iron Range Tourism Bureau, and Hello Range focuses on resident recruitment. Add your events to their calendar, or reach out to Ceasar if you’d like content created to promote your business.

Maty Erie, Living Well Physical Therapy. Living Well is an outpatient clinic with locations in Eveleth and Tower, seeing patients from three months to 102 years old. Services range from neuro to pre and post surgical care, and now include sports performance for athletes from youth baseball to college volleyball.

Stacy Oltmanns, Essentia Health. Essentia is in the middle of its own construction project, building on site while keeping the emergency room and other services running. Stacy also signed up for United Way’s Lunch Buddies program and will read with a first grader from October through May.

Holly Bachschneider, Arrowhead Transit. Holly is the volunteer recruiter and travel trainer. Arrowhead Transit is looking for volunteer drivers in our area, and the federal mileage rate is now 76 cents a mile. Know someone who might be interested? Give Holly a call.

Todd Erickson, Adolfson & Peterson Construction. Todd manages multiple construction projects and supports the AP team here on site.

Alyssa Kostohryz. Alyssa is looking for steady, long-term work and brought copies of a resume. Experience includes HR, sales, marketing and data entry, along with manual labor. Alyssa is eager to train and learn.

Merry Ofstad. Merry is retired from U.S. Bank and stays busy volunteering where and when she wants.

Desiree Yourczek, Arrowhead Transit. Desiree is Arrowhead Transit’s new marketing manager, now in her third week, and is learning about public transit across the region. If you worked with her predecessor, Dominic Olivanti, please reach out so she can reconnect.

Eric Hoffman, Ironworkers Local 512. Eric is a business representative for the Ironworkers, one of the building trades on the MnDOT Virginia headquarters. The local has taken in about 180 new members over the past two and a half years, many from the Iron Range, and is still hiring.

Rick Crum, NTS. NTS is the only environmental and geotechnical engineering firm founded and based on the Iron Range. That keeps the firm focused on what matters most here: mining and economic redevelopment.

Dan Trygstad, NTS. Dan is a project manager overseeing geotechnical drilling, construction materials testing and parts of the NTS lab. He previously worked for U.S. Steel. If you need to know what’s underneath a site, how to design a foundation, or inspections and testing during construction, give him a call.

Alex Peritz, MnDOT. Alex is MnDOT’s project manager for roads and bridges in the area. MnDOT’s road maintenance, bridge maintenance, sign crews, radio shop and patrol are all looking forward to moving into the new MnDOT Virginia headquarters.

Rep. Cal Warwas, Minnesota House District 7B. Rep. Warwas said big projects like this one are a huge boost to the Range. He is a third generation miner, second generation Minntac and a 30-year steelworker with kids in the trades, and said we need to keep an economy working for the next generation.

Matt Sjoberg, Adolfson & Peterson Construction. Matt is a business representative with AP and our host for the morning. He thanked everyone for coming.

Paul Peltier, RAMS. RAMS serves more than 70 local units of government, including cities, townships and school districts. Its annual dinner is December 3, free for RAMS members, with AP as premier presenting sponsor. Paul also encouraged everyone to look into the permanent school fund constitutional amendment on the November ballot, which he said would increase distributions from a dedicated trust fund for public education at no cost to local taxpayers.

Brandon Lind, Adolfson & Peterson Construction. Brandon is a full-time project engineer on the MnDOT Virginia headquarters. He was hired in May and is glad to be part of the project.

 

 

Chamber update from Teresa Appelwick

The Laurentian Chamber is heading into strategic planning for the next two to three years. We finished our last three-year plan in two years and accomplished all but one goal, a childcare initiative, which we are working to correct now.

Our consultant is running an official small survey to a sample group, but your input matters at every stage. If there’s a need you feel the Chamber isn’t meeting, tell Teresa directly.

A reminder on the constitutional amendment: if you skip that question on your ballot, it counts as a no vote. Make sure your voice is counted one way or the other. Paul Peltier’s presentation on the amendment at the October 13 Virginia City Council meeting is available online.

 

 

Upcoming events

 

 

Thank you, AP

A big thank you to Matt Sjoberg and Adolfson & Peterson Construction for hosting, feeding us well and opening up the MnDOT Virginia headquarters job site. Thank you to MnDOT and LHB for joining, and to everyone who came out on a Wednesday morning.

Congratulations to our door prize winners: Steve R. took home a $25 gift certificate to Kunnari’s, and Jake won a gift basket from Kunnari’s.

See you at the next one.