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Midwest Partnership Development Corporation, the economic development group supporting Adair, Greene and Guthrie counties, recently collaborated with Western Iowa Advantage to complete a "virtual" building for Panora's Rosehill Business Park which is owned by Panora Telco.
A "virtual building" is not an actual physical building, but rather an animated, 3-D computerized rendering of a potential structure. The virtual building is used as a business recruitment tool to paint a "what if" scenario for a potential business which might consider locating in the area. An online clip is played to show the various attributes of the potential structure, including where the building is located.
The purpose of the program is to diversify the area's inventory for existing buildings, especially larger structures. "Most business prospects considering a business relocation or expansion start by searching for an existing building," said Jason White, Executive Director of the Midwest Partnership Development Corporation. "Panora has buildings, but like many communities lacks larger buildings 25,000 square feet or more. On the positive side, the Park is owned and controlled by one of the area's best economic development partners, is located within the city limits, and has good transportation access and utility connections, thus making this site is a good candidate for this project."
Another benefit of the project is that it tells a little bit about the community. The video clip's narration, in addition to showing the various attributes of the potential structure, discusses positive community attributes as well, including the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
"The Panora Area Development Group supports the virtual building project," said Dave Beidelman, President. "The City of Panora and Panora Telco have been great partners of ours in promoting and developing the park, with noted successes in Brokers International and Iowa Trenchless. Additional lots are available, helped in part by a RISE grant received last year from the Iowa Department of Transportation."
The Guthrie County Foundation helped fund this project as the goal is to create jobs for Guthrie County residents. Additionally, the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Alliant Energy, MidAmerican Energy, and Black Hills Energy Corporation financially supported the project, which creates at least one virtual building in each of eight counties comprising Western Iowa Advantage.
The public can visit the video clip of Panora's virtual building by going to the link http://tinyurl.com/yz4ou9q, or learn more about the project at http://tinyurl.com/ygwrle9.
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©Guthrie Center Times 2009
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