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Deere to Invest $100 Million in Waterloo Facility.

Issued at 2010-06-21



Deere & Company announced Wednesday that it will invest approximately $100 million to modernize the John Deere Foundry in Waterloo, Iowa.

The company said the modernization work will take place over the next four to five years and will allow the company to leverage more advanced casting designs and manufacturing technologies when completed.

“The enhancement of our foundry operations follows recent investments in the Waterloo Works to improve manufacturing capacity and flexibility. This integrated approach at John Deere in the design and manufacturing of large row crop and four-wheeled-drive tractors is a competitive advantage,” said David C. Everitt, president, worldwide agriculture & turf division – North America, Asia, Australia, Sub-Saharan and South Africa, and global tractor and turf products.

 The investment follows the $125 million Waterloo Works redevelopment plan Deere announced in 2000 that streamlined both its drivetrain and tractor manufacturing operations and the $187 million in investments Deere announced in 2008 to increase the manufacturing capacity of the Waterloo Works.

The Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) provided tax incentives to Deere & Co. to retain the Waterloo Foundry jobs in Iowa. Everitt said the IDED program to retain Iowa jobs was a significant factor in Deere’s decision to re-investment in the John Deere Foundry.

“We evaluated several options for our foundry operations," said Richard Czarnecki, global director, large tractor product line. "This investment allows us to better serve our customers with high quality, innovative castings. The investment helps John Deere meet customer requirements for more sophisticated designs of large tractors and helps to ensure the company maintains manufacturing flexibility and responsiveness to market demands.”

 


Source: Modern Casting



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