Over the past 10 months, John Deere has been moving the production of skid steer loaders from Loudon, Tenn., to Dubuque, Iowa, where John Deere Dubuque Works begins production of the machinery. The move helped retain approximately 250 jobs at Dubuque Works.
Through the New Jobs and Income Program of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Deere received incentives to retain the jobs in Iowa. Deere & Co. will have invested more than $6 million to move the production to Dubuque including the relocation of approximately $13.5 million in equipment assets from Tennessee. Deere said the move supports its corporate wide effort to improve manufacturing efficiency and eliminate excess production capacity.
“We are confident in the high quality of products made by the employees of the John Deere Dubuque Works,” said Max Guinn, vice president of engineering and manufacturing for Deere’s Construction & Forestry Division. “We are rapidly pursuing our goal to increase John Deere’s share of the skid steer market and have made this investment in support of that goal.”
Deere worked closely with the United Auto Workers in moving the skid steer production to Iowa. Jim Hecker, an international union representative for the UAW, said, “The United Auto Workers have worked effectively to help ensure these jobs stayed in the community. The UAW has cooperated in creating business conditions to encourage Deere & Co. officials that this was the right move.”
The company said the Dubuque Works is now already responsible for all fabrication operations for the company’s skid steer production. In total, the Dubuque location has approximately 1,700 employees.
