John Deere in Pune

For those of us from the Midwestern U.S.  "John Deere" means many things. It is a strong and important presence in the Quad Cities, with the world headquarters just several miles from the St. Ambrose campus. It is dealers sprinkled across the heartland. It is many wonderful students in our classrooms.

With a presence in 160 countries and 43 manufacturing facilities worldwide, Deere is also a major global company. Our initial conversations about John Deere in Asia were facilitated by Mr. Jim Field, John Deere's Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

We Pass By One of the Many High-Tech Facilities in the Area

Yesterday we visited with Mr Ranjit Nair, Managing Director and CEO, John Deere India Pvt. Ltd.  Some 5,000 people are now employed by John Deere India, and a commitment was recently made to invest $100 million in a new manufacturing facility in the country.

The Deere technology center is located in a booming high-tech section of Pune graced with many modern office buildings.

One striking insight from our conversation with Mr. Nair: there is absolute commitment to the John Deere values as they conduct business around the world.

As a point of interest, one of our St. Ambrose Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) students has recently returned to the U.S. after a year-long post in an HR capacity in this region.