John Deere Tractors at 100: The Legend Runs On

Foundry 50th Anniversary Open House

The Foundry team is just that — a tight team, proud of what they do, and operating in one of the most specialized environments in John Deere's Waterloo manufacturing footprint. Family tours are rare. Safety is the top priority, and the nature of the work means open houses are few and far between.

For the 50th anniversary, we made it happen. I led the project end-to-end. My team and I handled all of the design work: employee invitations mailed to the house, a save the date, thank-you cards, tour videos, and display boards written in plain language that explained what each part of the process does. We mapped the tour route ourselves, then walked it with the safety director to get it approved before a single family came through the door.

On the people side, we scheduled employee volunteers in short shifts — enough time to welcome visitors and answer questions, but short enough that they could get back out and enjoy the day with their own families. Outside, an emcee, DJ, bounce houses, a corn maze, a full BBQ, kids' activities, and door prizes kept the energy going. My team coordinated every vendor: tents, blow-ups, food, entertainment, prizes, all of it.

The excitement when employees found out their families could finally come see where they worked was something to witness. On the day of the event, the operations manager was doing one last pass with a broom in the display area before the doors opened.

A fork truck driver who had been at the Foundry just over a year said his five-year-old daughter had heard all about it. She walked the entire floor in flip flops, looked up at him, and said: "Wow daddy, you really do get to have fun at work."

That is the whole point.

More than 1,500 people came through the doors — just over 800 employees, with the rest being the families who finally got to see what all the talk was about. Kids went home with John Deere tattoos, foundry-specific bead art, face paint, and probably too much cotton candy. The standout keepsake was a medallion poured at the factory — one of a kind, made right there, one for every employee.