At a time when some public companies are choosing to move out of Chicago, Moline, Illinois-based Deere & Co. is firmly planting its flag in the Windy City.
John Deere opened its first Chicago office this fall, selecting Fulton Market for the home for its new information technology hub.
Deere has more than 150 locations across the globe but wanted to add an office where the company can leverage its technical capabilities and add to its workforce. Deere’s goal is to hire a total of 300 positions for the office to support IT within the company.
Andrez Carberry, head of global HR at John Deere, told the Chicago Business Journal that the new office helps ensure that the company attracts the best and the most diverse tech talent.
“As we looked at different locations. Chicago had the right mix of talent, the infrastructure, the environment and folks to come in and work,” added Siva Ganesh, vice president of information technology for John Deere.
While Austin, Texas, remains a product hub for the company and its Silicon Valley office is focused more on hardware, for information technology, Chicago proved to be the ideal location for the new IT hub with the University of Illinois Department of Computer Science in its backyard.
Ganesh also said he expects there to be some “cross-pollination” if someone wants to live and work in different cities.
The move follows the departure of another heavy equipment manufacturer, Caterpillar Inc., which announced plans to move its headquarters out of Chicago in June.
Ganesh said John Deere’s headquarters will remain in Moline with the Chicago office as “an augmentation” of the company’s tech talent.
