The wartime ammunition plant that became a John Deere factory, and helped turn Ankeny into a city.
By 1942 the federal government had built an ordnance plant to manufacture ammunition on the site northeast of Ankeny. After the war, John Deere purchased the plant in October 1947, and production of corn pickers began in February 1948 with 570 employees.
As the factory grew, so did Ankeny: the town's population climbed rapidly around the plant, transforming a small railroad stop into a manufacturing community.
John Deere Des Moines Works is a facility of Deere & Company (NYSE: DE), a public company; site-level financials are not separately disclosed.
The arrival of John Deere in 1947 was a turning point for Ankeny, bringing hundreds and then thousands of manufacturing jobs and fueling the city's growth from a farm town into a thriving Des Moines suburb. The Des Moines Works remains one of Ankeny's cornerstone employers.
John Deere's Des Moines Works is in Ankeny, Iowa, just north of Des Moines. It sits on the site of a former World War II ordnance plant that Deere bought in 1947.
The Des Moines Works is a Deere & Company plant in Ankeny that builds agricultural and construction equipment. It began by producing corn pickers in 1948.
John Deere bought the former ordnance plant in October 1947 and began corn-picker production in February 1948 with 570 employees.
John Deere's arrival in 1947 was a turning point for Ankeny, bringing thousands of manufacturing jobs and fueling the town's growth from a farm stop into a major Des Moines suburb. The Des Moines Works remains one of Ankeny's largest employers.
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