Iowa’s largest manufacturing employer is expanding its Des Moines facility.
Deere & Company, the world’s largest ag equipment maker, plans to expand the manufacturing capacity at the John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny.
That’s following incentives from the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the city of Ankeny.
Deere says it will retain 400 jobs as a direct result of the company’s expansion plans and plans to invest $85 million in capital improvements.
They include a new 300,000-square-foot building for product assembly.
It will add production capacity for self-propelled sprayers, which are already manufactured at the factory.
Construction will begin in the spring and take about a year. Deere is based in Moline, Illinois.
Phil Roberts, Davenport
