As part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability, John Deere has announced plans to build a new LEED-certified marketing and sales center. The new facility will be built in Olathe, Kansas. Construction will begin this fall and is expected to be complete in early 2010.

The facility is designed to be 126,150 square feet. It will house more than 400 John Deere employees responsible for providing support and service to John Deere dealerships and sales branches throughout the U.S. and Canada. Among the planned amenities for the new single-building facility are meeting and training rooms, a fitness center and an open-office atmosphere to encourage teamwork. There will be extensive natural lighting, as well as lots of outside visibility. John Deere has an older, two-building facility in the area.

"This state-of-the-art facility will meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Certification, Gold Level," said John Lagemann, John Deere's vice president of agricultural equipment sales for U.S. and Canada. "It will provide an exceptional working environment for our employees who work in our industry-leading marketing organization. We're proud of our commitment to the greater Kansas City area - a geographic, cultural center for agriculture."

Image — John Deere