Bruno’s expands at Airpark
Bruno’s Old World Foods recently announced the opening of a new location for its food processing operations, now housed at the Port Authority-controlled Airpark Industrial Park.
The Duluth Seaway Port Authority recently approved the sale of land at Airpark for Bruno’s purchase of a 2.67-acre parcel at the industrial development complex (adjacent to the Duluth International Airport) for the purpose of constructing a 17,000-square-foot manufacturing and processing facility. The new location will allow the company to add workers and expand its growing business. 
“The history of our family business is our commitment and dedication to provide the best foods and service to  our customers. We have a wide variety of products catering to the local school districts,” said Katerina Anderson, company president. “We also continue to cater to many school fundraising companies,” she said.
Bruce Tomesh, his wife Betty and daughter Katerina Anderson started manufacturing boil-in-a-bag frozen soups in 1988 out of rented space on Duluth’s Lake Avenue — then an area of light industry but now a popular tourist and hospitality district.
The company offers more than 12 different varieties of frozen Bruno’s soups, which are offered ready to eat. The company will now expand its product line with the new space available.
“Our products are made and packaged with great care,” said Ms. Anderson, “and we will continue to develop our customer base and add new products as needed in our expanded Airpark location.”
Helberg Drive completes
a missing road and rail link
A recently approved $5.2 million road construction-connection project for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority should be completed by the fall of this year. The road is named for Davis Helberg, former Duluth Port director and one of the nation’s leading advocates for the Great Lakes maritime industry.


Northland Constructors, Duluth, was awarded the contract in September 2005 for the nearly one-mile project that will provide improved road and rail access to Port sites.
Former Port Director Davis Helberg, shown here (left) at the groundbreaking ceremony with Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson, said, “After 24 years as Port director, it is good to see the fruition of an alternative route for high-wide, heavy-haul cargoes moving through the Port.”
The new route will improve rail service and provide better access to Garfield Pier, a 28-acre site that is ready for immediate development. Garfield Pier has 3,000 feet of dock face and direct rail access and is designed as a Job Opportunity Building Zone (JOBZ) site.

The new Helberg Drive — shown in yellow — affords convenient access to the Port Authority-controlled Garfield Pier.