Deere & Company has targeted the town of Cary in North Carolina as the site for an expansion project that will eventually encompass 500,000 sq. ft. of office space for its rapidly growing commercial and consumer equipment division.

Ground breaking ceremonies took place in August for Phase I — a 156,000-sq.-ft., four-story building — expected to be the first of several buildings to be built on a 65-acre campus near the corner of Wesson Parkway and Evans Road. The building will include amenities such as a 300-person training facility, break room, computer room/lab and a product display.

The event marked another milestone in the growth of the Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division. The expansion could include an additional 900 employees over the next decade, bringing total employment from 300 people to almost 1,300.

The global farm and landscaping equipment company plans to move divisional offices from North Raleigh to Cary and hire additional workers for the division which manufactures golf-course and landscaping equipment, including commercial lawn mowers and small tractors. Deere is based in Molten, IL, where it has about 1,500 workers. A company spokesman said there are no plans to move the headquarters from Molten, adding that the Cary facility will be used only for the commercial and consumer equipment division.

Officials said growth is so rapid that as many as 900 workers could be added over the next decade for marketing and customer-service departments.

Some 342 people are employed presently in 51,000 sq. ft. of office space on Bland Road in North Raleigh. The Cary offices would be used for these workers. In addition to its North Raleigh headquarters, the division’s Triangle operations include a recently constructed manufacturing plant on NC 55 in Fuquay-Varina where 373 employees work. The plant began producing commercial and golf-course equipment in July 1997. The division also recently leased a 259,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Charlotte.

Basis for the projected move is that the unit is benefiting from not only strong demand but a growing market share as well. Sales soared from $1.5 billion in 1995 to $2.6 billion for the fiscal year which ended last October. A spokesman for the firm said division sales are expected to reach $3 billion this fiscal year. A goal of $6 billion is expected in 2006.

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