The same John Deere factories where workers build its signature combines, tractors and construction/forestry machines shifted gears earlier this month to build homes and futures for Habitat for Humanity families.
More than 1,200 workers across six Iowa and Illinois Deere facilities devoted part of their workday to constructing wall panels for new Habitat homes. The coordinated volunteer effort, which began in late May at Harvester Works in East Moline and wrapped up Friday, June 5, at John Deere Davenport Works, led to the completion of six framed homes. Built and assembled on the factory floors, the houses are destined for Habitat homeowners across the home communities where Deere operates.
“It’s inspiring to see the scale of John Deere’s Building Our Communities initiative, with this level of investment of time, energy, and funds into Iowa communities,” Lisa Houser, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Iowa, said in a Habitat news release before weeklong build blitz. “This initiative shows that John Deere is doubling down on support for affordable homeownership across our state, taking the partnership that we’ve seen for years to a whole new level.”
The separate builds – done in assembly line fashion – involved union and salaried workers at the two Quad Cities plants as well as at Deere facilities in Des Moines, Waterloo and Dubuque.
The expanded partnership between the Moline-based John Deere Foundation and multiple Habitat for Humanity of Iowa affiliates marked the first time the affiliates had worked together on a collective build, which allowed more homes to be built at the same time across several cities, organizers said.
Helping their neighbors
The volunteer blitz involved employees at Harvester Works and Davenport Works along with Des Moines Works, John Deere Financial (Johnston, Iowa) and facilities in Dubuque and Waterloo. In addition to actual construction jobs, Deere employees also could choose to work at other Habitat construction sites or at Habitat ReStore, the nonprofit’s resale shops.
“We wanted to create as many ways as possible for people to show up and help,” said John Foundation President Taryn Edgin, who helped scale up the Habitat-Deere partnership. “Whether employees are building alongside future homeowners or framing walls on-site at one of our facilities, that’s what this is about. Neighbors helping neighbors.”
“At the end of the day, our communities need more stable, safe and affordable housing options,” she said at the Harvester plant, where she previously had been business unit manager. “We all know we have too many families that are just on the cusp, one emergency away from being homeless.”
Harvester workers spent half of their workday cutting, framing and assembling all the interior and exterior panels for a future three-bedroom ranch-style home.
“We have all levels of management at John Deere here. We have UAW (Local 865) employees that are working with those (managers), and everyone is working together,” Tom Fisher-King, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities, said as employees at the world’s largest combine manufacturing plant showed their muscle and construction talents.
“The overall impact of what is happening by the end of the day (is amazing),” he added. “We are going to have the walls standing for an entire home in about an eight-hour period.”
The Habitat kickoff came on the heels of the local Habitat’s 33rd anniversary, Mr. Fisher-King said. Since its inception, 145 Habitat homes have been completed across the Quad Cities.
The house completed at Harvester is earmarked for a single mom, whose new house will be erected not far from the plant on 21st Street. The Davenport Works’ house does not yet have a family but it will be placed in the 800 block of Tremont Avenue in Davenport.
All equal volunteers
For scores of local John Deere workers, the volunteer build provided a break from their traditional roles.
“I like to consider myself handy – my wife might not think so, but I’m a jack of all trades,” Quentin Boyer, a Harvester employee from Moline, said during the wall assembly. Mr. Boyer, who works as a factory level continuous improvement (FLCI) representative, said how satisfying it was to see the individual wall frames stood up and arranged as the actual house will be.
“It means a lot to us just to give back and John Deere allows us to do it. It’s awesome,” he said.
In fact, Mr. Boyer vowed “to see this all the way through.” He hopes to join the work crew – and fellow Deere employees – later when the wall panels are delivered to the build site and final construction begins.
Not all those volunteers came off the factory floor. Deanna Kover, the president of the company’s Worldwide Agriculture & Turf Division, Production & Precision Ag, also was involved in the team build.
“In there, I’m not the boss,” Ms. Kover told the QCBJ as volunteers nailed together two-by-fours. “It’s a mix of salary and wage workers – folks with a little time at Deere and folks with a lot of time at Deere. It’s really great to be able to do this in a lot of our hometowns in Iowa and Illinois.”
Ms. Kover, the division president since November 2023, described it as “an exciting day” for the factory where “we’re always working together on these machines.”
Affordable housing need
In Iowa alone, Habitat reports that more than 319,000 households spend more than 30% of their income on housing. That financial hit leaves families with less money for essentials like food, healthcare and transportation.
Recognizing the need for more affordable housing, Ms. Edgin said the latest initiative builds on an already successful, 10-year partnership between the Moline-based John Deere, the foundation and Habitat.
“What we’re very careful to do is observe where our employees spend their time. They love volunteering for this organization,” she said. “But who doesn’t like it – to basically contribute to the building of someone else’s future.”
Given the broader Deere workforce who already volunteer and support Habitat, she said “It makes sense to use this as an avenue to accelerate more home builds.”
To increase impact, she said Deere also is looking to get its customer base and dealer network involved. She cited one recent example where Martin Equipment, a John Deere dealer with a branch in Rock Island, enlisted its own employees to work on a Habitat home.
Financial boost
Aside from swinging a hammer or screwing in fasteners, employees also can financially support the nonprofit homebuilder.
In addition, the company is doubling its corporate giving program, Dollars for Doers, which rewards workers who volunteer their time. Deere pays $20 per employee volunteer hour to the employee’s charity of choice, but is doubling that to $40 per hour, Ms. Edgin said
During the months of June and July, the foundation also is matching employee own Habitat donations at 200%, which means every employee dollar will have triple the impact.
That is on top of the $1.2 million John Deere donated directly to Habitats across Iowa (and the Quad Cities). Over the past five years, Deere and its employees have contributed more than $6.5 million to the Iowa affiliates..
The funding is critical as an average Habitat home now costs $200,000 to build, Mr. Fisher-King said. Without company contributions of money and volunteer time as well as other donations, he said Habitat would not be able to keep the house’s price at an affordable rate.
While its future homeowners still must put their own sweat equity, the Habitat leader anticipates a very fast turnaround on the Deere-built homes. The East Moline and Davenport homes should be dedicated next spring.
“Once the foundation is there and the decking is ready to go, these walls will go up fairly quickly and then we’re ready to bring in trusses and the crane, and make that house.”
Building Our Communities – By the numbers
Here’s a look at John Deere’s support of Habitat for Humanity affiliates across Iowa:
- 1,200 John Deere employee volunteers.
- 2,500+ total volunteer hours to Habitat.
- Six Deere sites involved in Building Our Communities campaign with Habitat including facilities in the Quad Cities, Des Moines, Waterloo and Dubuque.
- 30+ homes were constructed or rehabbed by volunteer and financial support from John Deere in 2026 through three of Habitat’s programs: homeownership, repair, and accessibility ramp installation.
- $1.2 million in direct grants were made by John Deere Foundation to Habitat in 2026 ($6.5 million over the past five years).
- 200% – Throughout June and July, the foundation will match each dollar a Deere employee donates at 200%, tripling the impact.
Source: John Deere Foundation
Habitat QC support
- 720 hours local Deere employees logged with Habitat QC.
- 2 local facilities hosted panel builds through Deere’s “Building Our Communities” initiative: East Moline Harvester Works and Davenport Works.
- Additional local workers volunteered off-site at Habitat homes already under construction as well as at Habitat ReStore in Davenport.
- $135,000 in funding donated in 2026 to Habitat QC by the John Deere Foundation.
Source: Habitat for Humanity Quad Cities
