Panora, Iowa - Guthrie County, Development and Industrial Guide.

Come for the Fun! Stay for the Future.

Businesses Chamber Community Development History Links Visitor Guide

Development

Where is Panora? Local Contacts Population Labor Force Proximity to Markets Wage Rates

Industrial Sites Local Employers Utilities Telecommunications Tax Structure Transportation Services

Municipal Services Commercial/Industrial Services Education Dependent Care Climate Miscellaneous

Cultural & Recreational Facilities Health Facilities Additional Description

Where is Panora?

Des Moines to Lake Panorama . . . 45 miles
Omaha to Lake Panorama . . . . . 95 miles
Minneapolis to Lake Panorama . . . 290 miles
Kansas City to Lake Panorama . . . 242 miles

Local Contacts

Community Web Address: www.panora.org

Economic Development:
P.R.I.D.E.
P.O. Box 141
Panora, IA 50216
Phone: 641.755.2131
Email: pride@panora.org

Community:
Panora Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 73
Panora, IA 52016
Phone: 641.755.3300

Population

(U.S. CENSUS/WOODS & POOLE)

Year	Community	County	State
1980	1,211	11,983	2,913,808
1990	1,100	10.935	2,776,755
2000	N/A	11,060	2,884,120
Population within 50 miles . . . . . 140,698

Labor Force Information

IWD Labor Force Summary For	Guthrie County
Annual Average for	1996
Place of Residence
Resident labor force	6,020
Resident unemployed	190
Percent unemployed	3.1
Resident total employement	5,830
Place of Work
Nonagricultural wage and salary workers	2,880
Manufacturing	100
Nonmanufacturing	2,788
Construction and Mining	200
Transportation, Communication and Public Utilities	110
Wholesale and Retail Trade	830
Wholesale Trade	270
Retail Trade	570
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate	260
Services	590
Government	780
IWD Labor Survey
Men	425
Women	429
Total	854

Proximity to Markets

City	Miles	Days by Motor Freight
Atlanta	905	2
Chicago	367	1
Denver	629	2
Des Moines	45	1
Kansas City	200	1
Los Angeles	1,687	5
Milwaukee	341	1
Minneapolis	312	1
New Orleans	1,113	3
New York	1,119	4
Omaha	100	1
St. Louis	360	1

Wage Rates

Hourly Wage Rates
Occupation or Job Title	Entry	Average
Clerk, Gen. Office	$ 4.65	$ 4.90
Data Entry Operator	4.75	6.50
General Laborer	4.65	5.00
Machine Set-Up Operator	4.70	8.00
Material Handler	4.70	5.50
Production Assembler	5.35	5.85
Secretary	5.00	5.50
Welder, Combination	4.70	8.00

Industrial Sites

Site Name:	Panora Industrial Park	Panora Telecommunications
Total Acreage Available	1	40
Location of Site	600 E. Market St.	East Highway 44
Asking Price Per Acre	$10,000	$10,000
Name of Landowner	Panora Reg. Ind. Dev.	Panora Telecommunications, Inc.
Electricity (Primary Voltage)	4,160	4,160
Water	6" main	8" main
Gas	6" main	6" main
Sewer	12" main	12" main
Zoning Classification	Light industrial	Light industrial
Fire Insurance Class	7	7
Tax Rate/$1000 Assessed Valuation	$37.35	$37.81
Is site located within a tax increment area?	Yes	Yes

Additional site information available upon request. Prices listed above may be subject to negotiation.

Local Employers

Major manufacturers and other employers in area
Name	Product/Service	Employment	Union
Sunny Fresh Foods	egg products	25	none
Jubilee Foods	retail foods	32	none
Panora Nursing and Rehabilitation	long term health care	85	none
Panorama Community Schools	education services	102	none
Lake Panorama Conference Center	recreation	69	none
Brokers International	market insurance and annuities	35	none
Monarch Mfg. Interlock Div.	spa enclosures and gazebos	4	none
Heartland Co-Op	grain elevator	8	none
Number of manufacturing plants	2	Number of manufacturing employees	30
Number of manufacturing plants with unions	0	Number of work stoppages in last five years	0

Utilities

Electricity
Supplier	public
Name of Supplier	Panora Municipal Electric
Water
Water supplied by	public
Names of suppliers	City of Panora
Source of city water	river
Elevated storage capacity	150,000 gallons
Capacity of water plant	1,000,000 gallons
Average consumption	158,000 gpd
Peak consumption	256,000 gpd
Natural Gas
Name of local distributor	MidAmerican Energy Co.
Pipeline source	Northern Natural Gas Co./ENRON
Sanitation
Type sewage treatment plant	primary
Percent of community served by sewer	98
Average load	203,000 gpd
Peak load	491,000 gpd
Design capacity	308,000 gpd

Telecommunications

Local telephone company	Panora Telco
Equal access long distance for Intra-LATA calls?	Yes
Equal access long distance for Inter-LATA calls?	Yes
Type of central office switcher	Digital
Is fiber currently in the ground?	Yes
Fiber is used for	Toll special circuits
Is SS7 service available?	Yes
Is ISDN service available?	Yes
Is T1-DS1 service available?	Yes
Is local cellular service available?	Yes
Is local Internet service available?	Yes
Is local video conferencing service available?	No

Tax Structure

Assessed value of property in city	$ 17,889,272
Tax rate per $1,000 assessed value	$ 37.81
Bonded indebtness: city	$550,000
Bonded indebtness: School	$ 4,300,000
Bonded indebtness: capacity of community	$1,141,251
Future indebtness plans	$300,000
Remarks:	Property tax abatement is available for residential and commercial development. Urban renewal Districts (TIF) are in place to facilitate additional industrial, commercial and residential growth. The City will work to access any national, federal, state or other financial assistance programs available.

Transportation Services

Air Service
Time (in minutes) to nearest public airport	5
Type of runway	hard surface
Length of runway	3,400 feet
Unicom radio	Yes
Instrument landing system	No
VOR	No
Non-directional beacon	Yes
Time in minutes to nearest commercial air service (Des Moines)	60
Airlines serving Des Moines	American, Northwest, TWA, United , USAir, Mesaba, Skyway, United Express, USAir Express, COMAIR and Vanguard.
Motor Carrier
Number of US highways serving city	0
Number of Iowa highways serving city	2
Time in minutes to nearest interstate interchange (I-80)	15
Time in minutes to nearest four-lane highway (US 30)	30
Number of motor freight carriers serving community	4
Number of local terminals	0
Number of intrastate carriers	4
Number of interstate carriers	0
Rail Service
Community served by railroad	No
Distance in minutes to nearest piggyback service	20
Name of railroad	Burlington Northern in Stuart

Municipal Services

Type of local government	Council, Mayor
City zoning ordinances in effect	Yes
County zoning ordinances in effect	Yes
Subdivision ordinance with design standards in effect	Yes
Number full-time fire department personnel	0
Number volunteer fire department personnel	30
Fire insurance class in city	7
Fire insurance class outside city	9
Number of full-time city police officers	3
Industrial waste pickup service	No
Percentage of city streets paved	80

Commercial/Industrial Services

Number of machine shops in community	0
Minutes to nearest machine shop	7
Number of tool/die shops in community	0
Minutes to nearest tool/die shop	20
Number of electric motor repair shops in community	0
Minutes to nearest electric motor repair shop	4
Daily newspaper	Des Moines Register
Weekly Newspaper	Guthrie County Vedette
Seating capacity of largest banquet room	350
Is city served by cable TV?	Yes
Number of motels/hotels	1
Total number of rooms available	51
Number of financial institutions in city	1
Number affiliated with bank chain	0
Number of company-owned, national-class chain retail stores	0
Chamber of Commerce	Yes
Manager is full-time?	No
Is community CEPP certified?	Yes

Education

School District: Panorama

Type	No.	Teachers	Enrollment	Grades
Elementary	2	24	338	K-5
Middle/Jr. High	1	9	163	6-8
High School	1	18	216	9-12
Private	-	-	-	-

Community College and Trade/Technical Schools: Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC)
Four-year College or University: Drake University, Grand View College in Des Moines; Iowa State University, Ames
Remarks: The Panorama School District is a reorganized district encompassing 197 square miles including the towns of Panora, Linden, Yale, Jamaica and Bagley.

Dependent Care

Little Panther Daycare
Panther Drive - near Panorama Elementary School

Climate

Average winter temperature	21.8 degrees
Average summer temperature	72.7 degrees
Average annual rainfall	29.9 inches
Average annual snowfall	33.2 inches

Miscellaneous Information

Total number of religious congregations in city: 6

Protestant: 5

Catholic: 1

Jewish: 0

Other: 0
Active civic/industrial improvement programs: Panora Regional Industrial Development Enterprise (PRIDE), Women for Panora's Future, Panora Lions Club, Women's Service Organization, Panora Chamber of Commerce
Average cost of construction for housing: $65 per square foot

Cultural & Recreational Facilities

Number of local facilities and those within 1/2 hour drive:

4 public golf courses

80 public parks

84 public tennis courts

6 public swimming pools
Number of country clubs available: 12
Public access to lake or river: Yes
Activities Allowed:

swimming
fishing
water skiing
motor boating

Cultural and Information resources:

theatre

library
opera
museum
ballet
historic site
art gallery
symphony
historical society
art council

Remarks: Lake Panorama is a private lake development with membership to lot owners. This includes one private golf course and convention center.
Events
Attractions

Health Facilities

Number of hospitals within 1 hour drive	10
Total number of beds	2,292
Time in minutes to nearest facility	7
Time in minutes to emergency medical treatment	7
Is air flight/EMT ambulance service available?	Yes
Number of clinics in community	2
Specialty of clinic(s)	General Practice

Number of medical personnel in county:

Other: 3
Remarks: 45 miles to major trauma and cardiac facilities; 2 helicopter emergency units serve community. 2 full time clinics, one utilizing a full time Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, the other a full-time Physicians Assistant.

Additional Description

Panora is located in eastern Guthrie County. Panora, a classic "small town" of 1200 people, is nestled between the scenic rolling hills of the Raccoon River Valley and the flatlands of prime Iowa farmland in eastern Guthrie County. Created by the last glacial layer, called the Wisconsonian, over 12,000 years ago, the beautiful landscape has something to offer everyone, like the Guthrie County Historical Village, the Middle Raccoon River, and the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

The community is served by a well-trained ambulance team, several medical clinics, a dentist, an optometrist, the Guthrie County Hospital and Life Flight. The City of Panora provides municipal electric, water, and sanitary sewer services. The municipal electric service provides full-electricity service needs, including stand-by generators which prevent extended electric outages. The City purchases bulk electricity from the Guthrie County REC, who is a valuable partner in community and economic development activities. The municipal water treatment system was updated in 1991 by the construction of a state-of-the-art water treatment plant. Telecommunications are maintained by the Panora Cooperative Telephone Association. All major long-distance carriers are accessed. A subsidiary, Panora Coop Cablevision Association provides 27 cable channels to Panora, Lake Panorama, Yale, and Linden. Recently, twelve miles of Fiber Optics were added.

Panora is a progressive community using our energy and abilities to remember our proud past while building a stronger and brighter future.

Return to Homepage.