Collector's Center Meeting Notes

John Deere Foundation

          10-12 million $ given away to various originations around the country

          Own Johns Deere historic site (Deere’s first plow place)

          The John Deere foundation will be responsible for the collector’s center so that John Deere (the company) will not be working with hobbyists

Objectives

          Help hobby

          Create originations that can help clubs by providing info, etc.

          Deere does not want to influence the clubs

          Deere and co stockholders want this foundation to be self-sufficient

          Will be very computer based

          Will have a magazine called "tradition"

          Displays will be made up of mostly member’s tractors. Members will fill out applications to put their tractors on display. The best tractors get displayed.

At first they wanted raise the money from collectors and enthusiasts but Deere decided to fund it themselves. They included the project in the John Deere foundation but then the center would have to make money and support itself. Ideas to make $ are as follows:

          Membership program

          Deere family (former and current employees of Deere)

          Enthusiast donations

          Store

          Will began manufacturing parts that are currently unavailable

Collectors will asked in the magazine what parts they was to go back

into production

          Center built as a late 50's dealership

          Working late 50's theme shop that will sell parts

          Will sell parts over the Internet

Status

          About 60% operation

          Will open on the 1st of June

          First magazine in may

          Will sell service and parts manuals that will look like originals

Questions

Q: in the past John Deere wasn't interested in old tractors or antique collecting. They had no respect for us collectors. How and why is this going to be different in the future?

A: It is questions like that that has caused Deere and Co to become more involved in tractor collecting. Management in Deere is getting younger and younger and there is a fear that Deere may forget there past. Because of this people within the company are taking steps to preserve this past. In the next couple of years almost all the rest of the older employees will be retiring and almost everyone in the company will be under 30.

Q: If john Deere starts making parts they could put businesses that are currently making parts out of business. How are you going to deal with this?

A: We have no intentions of putting parts manufacturers out of business. If quality parts are already being manufactured we will not make the parts ourselves. If low quality parts are being made we will help that business increase the quality and production of there parts. If they won’t work with us only then will we produce our own parts.

Q: How can we be sure that Deere isn't getting into this in order to make money?

A: We don't plan on making any profit; we want to look at this in a non-profit kind of way.

Q: The John Deere collector’s community is a one-class body where there is no segregation. Having different levels of membership could segregate all of the collectors. This would be a very bad idea.

A: (shrugs) so how can we change that?

Q: In the past 2cylender and green magazine have been able to have access to the John Deere archives and share that information with collectors. I have a hunch that that information will not be as accessible.

A: Deere and green magazine talked to make a deal and those talks resulted in a heated conversation. We ended those talks saying that green magazine will no longer be able to have the access the archives like they had in the past until we reached an agreement. We think that with our web site the archives will be more accessible than it was before.