A Panora business has recently completed expansion into another town in Guthrie County.

DICA is actually an international company that makes outrigger pads, which provide the stabilizing base for heavy construction or agricultural equipment.  Midwest Partnership Executive Director Chad Schreck says outrigger pads might not seem like a big product, but don’t be fooled.

“You’d be amazed at how important that is in that industry, and they’re actually one of the market leaders.  They just recently did an expansion–they got a facility over in Guthrie Center, and now they’re going to be doing more of their own manufacturing.  In the past they had outsourced some of that and now they’re bringing more of it in-house to compete better on pricing and to have more control over the quality of their product.”

Midwest Partnership helped DICA locate the building in Guthrie Center that would fit its size needs for expansion.  Purchasing green space and constructing a completely new building was also initially considered.

A $250,000 Region XII Revolving Loan Fund was used to finance the expansion project, which keeps about 10 jobs in the county and should bring in a few more in the future.

DICA’s expansion to Guthrie Center has been up and running for about a month.