The social responsibility commitment of corporate heavyweights like Deere & Co is massive.

How does Moline-based Deere handle that responsibility? By employing immensely talented and diligent people.

One of those key figures, Nate Clark, recently left his position as president of the John Deere Foundation, which is responsible for $20 million in annual grantmaking to nonprofit organizations that enable people to unlock economic, social, and environmental value in and throughout their lives.

“From John Deere’s social responsibility experts and thousands of John Deere volunteers and philanthropists, I learned that we all have the capacity to make the world better if we are earnest,” Mr. Clark wrote in a social media post. “I often wonder whether John Deere attracts people who go above and beyond to make the world around them better or if John Deere somehow helps develop or inspire them. It’s probably a unique mix of both, and it is this special alloy that I believe has made — and will make — John Deere so strong and successful.”

Mr. Clark and Deere have made the Quad Cities region and many of the communities and areas where Deere does business better through philanthropy. 

Good luck Mr. Clark on your next endeavor.  

Parr’s impressive expansion

There are countless businesses in the Quad Cities that operate under the radar of most residents. Sometimes that’s good, and sometimes that’s bad. Sometimes it takes 125 years to get on Quad Citians’ radar.

One of the latter is Parr Instrument Company. The privately owned Moline-based business — which makes laboratory research equipment including calorimeters, pressure vessels and chemical reactors — is celebrating its 125th anniversary with a major $22.5 million expansion project. It will more than double the size of its existing 211 53rd St., Moline, operation.

“A lot of people don’t know who we are or what we do because we’re a quiet company. Maybe we sell an occasional piece of equipment in the Quad Cities, but it’s very rare, so people wouldn’t necessarily know that we were here,” Jim Nelson, president and CEO of Parr Instrument, told the QCBJ.

He added, however, “Just about every college and university in the world probably has some sort of Parr device or instrument in it.”

In most years, some 50%-60% of Parr’s business is exported to other countries, and the company’s products are always in high demand. Last year, Parr posted a record $38 million in sales from equipment made and sold by skilled and often highly educated employees who receive industry leading pay and benefits, Mr. Nelson said.

Parr currently has 98 employees.

We appreciate Parr’s expansion in Moline’s East End. It wasn’t easy or likely due to flooding issues, but with persistence and some support from the city it was able to happen. We wish them another 125 years of success.