COUNTY PROFILE - OCEANA, Michigan

LOCATION SERVICES
 
Oceana County EDC/Resource Center
P.O. Box 168
Hart, Michigan 49420-0168
 
Contact:  Chuck Persenaire
Phone:    616/873-7141
FAX:      616/873-3710
 
 
County Seat:  Hart
 
POPULATION
 
1970 Census                    17984
1980 Census                    22002
1990 Census                    22454
Median Age (as of 1990)         33.5 years
 
 
LABOR FORCE
(1992 average)
 
Total Labor Force            11600
Employed                     10025
Total Unemployment            1575
Unemployment Rate             13.6%
3-Year Average                 12.%
 
 
PRINCIPAL ECONOMIC BASE EMPLOYERS
 
Firm                                Employees         Product/Service
 
Lakeside Foods, Shelby                    250  Canned fruits, vegetables, etc
Tempotech Industries, Hart                250  Fish processor
New Era Canning, New Era                  200  Canned apples and vegetables
Kurdziel Iron Industries, Rothbury        160  Grey iron castings
Stokely USA, Hart                         130  Canned fruit & vegetables
Gray & Co., Hart                          125  Candied cherries
Chase Farms, Walkerville                  120  Fruit & vegetable processing
Pentwater Wire Prod., Pentwater           107  Wire products
Michigan Freeze Pack, Hart                 81  Fruit & vegetable processing
Kysor of Cadillac, Rothbury                50  Measuring/controlling devices
Shelby I.C.T.                              45  Synthetic gem stones
Shelby Mfg., Shelby                        35  Merchandise display racks
Peterson Farms, Shelby                     25  Fruit processing
Felt Fabricators, Rothbury                 20  Dust collection systems
S&N Fabricators                            20  Mech. component fabrication
Ferry Truck Farmers, Shelby                10  Wood classroom furniture
Shelby Custom Canvas, Shelby               10  Manufacture canvas products
Silver Street, Shelby                      10  Wood products
 
 
EARNING LEVELS
                                          Average Hourly Rate
Classification                           Minimum       Maximum
 
Assembler - Light                          $6.23        $11.48
Forklift Operator                          $7.47        $10.57
General Laborer                            $4.54         $9.47
Inspector                                  $9.29        $11.69
Machine Operator                          $10.16        $12.76
Maintenance Mechanic                      $10.40        $14.46
Maintenance, Building                      $5.67         $9.38
Receptionist                               $5.91         $8.05
Tool & Die Maker                          $10.23        $14.41
Welder                                     $7.47        $12.41
 
Source:  Based on Consumers Power community survey, adjusted for inflation
         to 1991 using Consumer Price Index.
 
 
DISTANCE TO:
                   Miles    Kilometers
Chicago             230         370
Cleveland           350         563
Detroit             220         353
Indianapolis        300         482
Lansing             140         225
Toronto             430         691
 
 
TRANSPORTATION
 
Main Highways:  M-20, M-120, US-31
Bus Lines:      None
Truck Lines:    2
Rail Lines:     None
Ports:          Seaway Port Facil., Muskegon; Ferry--Ludington to Milwaukee
Airports:       Muskegon County International (35 miles)
Airlines:       American Eagle, Northwest Airlink
 
 
CLIMATE
As reported by weather station at Hart.
 
January Average Minimum:   16 F./ -9 C.    Average Maximum:   29 F./ -2 C.
July Average Minimum:      58 F./ 14 C.    Average Maximum:   81 F./ 27 C.
Growing Season:       142 days
Days below 0 F or -18 C:    7      Average Annual Rainfall:   34 in./ 86 cm.
Days above 90 F or 32 C:    5      Average Annual Snowfall:   99 in./251 cm.
 
 
INDUSTRIAL SITES
(As of January 1993)
 
Community                  Sites    Acres    Hectares    Industrial Parks
 
Hart                         18        51          21              1
Hart Twp.                     1         0           0              0
Shelby                       18        52          21              1
     COUNTY TOTAL            37       103          42              2
 
Zero acres indicates less than half an acre or no information available.
 
 
CONSTRUCTION PERMITS
 
                   Residential   Industrial      Office      Mercantile
                  Units  Value  Units  Value  Units  Value  Units  Value
 
1991:              122    $7.22    8    $0.76                  8    $0.20
3-Year Average:     97    $6.18    6    $0.89    0    $0.01   13    $0.42
 
Values are reported in millions of dollars. A 3-year average value of 1 may
indicate no construction activity in one or more of the last three years.
 
 
NEW INCORPORATIONS
 
Incorporations in 1992:     42          State Median:   68
Incorporation Rate:        187          State Median:  183
 
Incorporation Rate = incorporations per 100,000 population.
 
 
PROPERTY TAX BASE
(As of 1992)
 
Agricultural    Residential   Industrial    Commercial    Other
    16%             69%           2%            6%          7%
 
County Total State Equalized Value:             $358,815,328.00
County Average Tax Millage Rate (in 1991):                48.36
 
 
UTILITIES
                   Electric           Gas                Telephone*
 
Hart               Hart Hydro         MichCon            GTE, D
Pentwater          Oceana Elect       MichCon            GTE
Rothbury           Oceana Elect       MichCon            GTE
Shelby             Oceana Elect       MichCon            GTE, D
 
* D=digital switching; EA=equal access to interexchange carriers;
  see Source List note.
 
 
WATER
                                 Gallons           Liters         Pressure
                 Source      Capacity   Use    Capacity   Use   (lbs./sq.in.)
 
Hart             Wells                    6                23     55-60
Pentwater        Wells
Rothbury         Wells
Shelby           Wells
 
Capacity and maximum use in hundreds of thousands of gallons/liters per day.
 
 
SEWER
                                            Gallons            Liters
                     Type               Capacity   Load    Capacity   Load
 
Hart                 Lagoons                  8       4         32      17
Pentwater
Rothbury
Shelby
 
Capacity and present load in hundreds of thousands of gallons/liters per day.
 
 
MUNICIPAL SERVICES
                                   1990               Master   Public Library
Community        Phone Number   Population    Zoning   Plan      (Volumes)
 
Hart             616-873-2488        1942       yes    yes     23,700
Pentwater        616-869-8301        1050       yes    no      14,257
Rothbury         616-894-8607         407       yes    no      no
Shelby           616-861-4400        1871       yes    no      22,043
 
 
                 ------- Fire Department -------    Police
Community        Class.    FT Paid    PT/Volunt.  (Full-Time)  Solid Waste
 
Hart              7                        35            3     Municipal
Pentwater         7/9                      31            3
Rothbury          9                        22
Shelby            7                        39            3
 
 
County Sheriff Officers:    15      Licensed Landfills in County:    0
 
Other communities in Oceana County (1990 population for incorporated
communities in parenthesis):
 
Benona Twp. (1133), Claybanks Twp. (679), Colfax Twp. (374), Crystal Twp.
(658), Crystal Valley, Elbridge Twp. (820), Ferry Twp. (1033), Golden Twp.
(1302), Grant Twp. (2578), Greenwood Twp. (915), Hart Twp. (1513), Hesperia
(846), Leavitt Twp. (804), Mears, New Era (520), Newfield Twp. (2144), Otto
Twp. (404), Pentwater Twp. (1422), Remus, Shelby Twp. (3692), Walkerville
(262), Weare Twp. (1041)
 
 
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES (1992-1993)
                                                  K-12    Instruc.     High
Community        School District                Students    Staff     Schools
 
Hart             Hart Public                       1389        59         1
Pentwater        Pentwater Public                   378        22         1
Shelby           Shelby Public                     1562        64         1
Walkerville      Walkerville Community              353        16         1
 
 
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
(As of Fall 1991)
 
Name and Location                                               Enrollment
 
Ferris State University, Big Rapids (55 mi.)                         12422
Grand Valley State University (Ext.), Muskegon (35 mi.)              12565
Muskegon Community College, Muskegon (35 mi.)                         5231
West Shore Community College, Scottville (30 mi.)                     1326
Western Michigan University Extension, Muskegon (35 mi.)
 
 
MEDICAL FACILITIES
 
Hospitals in County:           1     Total Beds:     35
Nearest Large Medical Center:  Muskegon (35 miles)
Extended Care Facilities:      1     Total Beds:    113
Physicians (MDs and DOs) in County:     20
 
 
HOUSING AND CHURCHES
(Housing as of 1990)
 
Owner occupied:     6480 (80.3%)     Median Home Value:   $43,300.00
Renter occupied:    1591 (19.7%)     Median Contract Rent:   $240.00
Churches:      Catholic:    6    Protestant:   34
Synagogues:    0   Nearest synagogue is in Muskegon (46 miles)
 
 
RECREATION, ATTRACTIONS, AND EVENTS
 
Lake Michigan, Silver Lake - beach and dunes; recreational harbor
facilities at Pentwater on Lake Michigan; Silver Queen River Boat Rides,
Mears; Macwood's Dunerides; Little Point Sable Lighthouse. Val-du-Lakes
outdoor concert arena; Shelby Gemstone Factory. Oceana County Fair;
National Asparagus Festival; Numerous arts and craft fairs (Shelby and
Hart, mid-June; Pentwater, early July).
 
 
COMMERCIAL SERVICES
(As of 1989)
 
General Building Contractors                    9
Metalworking Machinery                          2
Commercial Printing                             1
Advertising                                     0
Personnel Supply Services                       0
Computer and Data Processing Services           1
Legal Services                                  6
Accounting, Auditing and Bookkeeping            2
Retail Establishments                         154
Wholesale Establishments                       17
 
Hotel/Motel Rooms (as of 1986):               128
Television Channels:    3 plus cable
Radio Stations:         1
Newspapers:     Beacon, Ludington Daily News, Muskegon Chronicle, Oceana Herald
                Journal
 
 
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
(As of 1993)                                                       Offices
                                            Main Office           in County
 
First of America Bank-West Michigan         Grand Rapids               1
FMB-Oceana Bank                             Hart                       3
State Savings Bank of Scottville            Scottville                 1
The Shelby State Bank                       Shelby                     2
 
EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS BY INDUSTRY
                                                               Earnings
                                   Employment                ($ millions)
                                1985        1990            1985          1990
 
Total Employment                 6969        8672
Total Income                                              $225.33       $327.76
 
Earnings by Place of Work                                  $77.23       $130.99
 
  Components by Type:
  Wage and Salary                4427        5803          $54.81        $89.28
  Proprietors                    2542        2869          $17.40        $32.51
    Farm                          840         724           $5.90        $13.23
    Nonfarm                      1702        2145          $11.50        $19.27
 
  Components by Industry:
  Farm                           1329        1116           $9.91        $17.75
  Nonfarm                        5640        7556          $67.31       $113.24
    Private                      4360        6088          $46.34        $82.42
      Agric./For./Fish.           137         315           $1.34         $3.05
      Mining                       60         143           $1.13         $3.07
      Construction                461         668           $6.35        $10.12
      Manufacturing               592        1171           $9.93        $24.31
        Non-Durable Goods         ---         ---           $3.12         $7.17
        Durable Goods             ---         ---           $6.81        $17.14
      Transp. & Utilities         138         149           $2.99         $5.99
      Wholesale Trade              84         116           $1.47         $2.47
      Retail Trade               1204        1392           $9.35        $12.18
      Fin./Ins./Real Est.         461         580           $1.74         $3.21
      Services                   1223        1554          $12.04        $18.01
    Government                   1280        1468          $20.97        $30.81
      Federal                      62          91           $1.41         $2.06
      Military, Civilian           51          53           $0.26         $0.34
      State and Local            1167        1324          $19.30        $28.42
 
Earnings by Place of Residence                            $133.93       $201.80
 
Zero values indicate confidential information or fewer than 10 employees
or less than $50,000.
 
Per Capita Income:      1985:    $10,325.00      1990:    $14,556.00