Jacqueline Kiple grew up in the Chicago suburbs but immediately felt at home when she stepped onto the campus of the University of Iowa.
She earned a degree in marketing and started her career at John Deere Financial in Des Moines. After four years, she moved to Colorado and worked in Boulder and Denver as a commercial lender, then as a corporate financial analyst and project manager for print and digital products.
Kiple and family moved back to Iowa and rejoined John Deere after being in Colorado for 12 years, bringing a wealth of experience back to the company. Since returning to Iowa, Kiple has held roles in marketing, strategic communications and now global business and tech public relations — all with Deere in the Des Moines area. Each of these roles has allowed her to travel across the country and internationally to work alongside her colleagues in Germany, India and Brazil.
As Senior Manager of Corporate Public Relations, she is now focused on telling the story of the impact that technology has on Deere’s customers around the world.
1. Why did you decide to return to Iowa?
Don’t get me wrong, Colorado was amazing and we loved every year we spent there. But Iowa was where we wanted to raise our family. We knew the culture in Iowa where people are kind, hardworking and humble, which is what we wanted for our family. We knew the schools were going to be great for our children. And we knew we could have a great career in Iowa and at John Deere that was way less volatile than what we’d experienced in Colorado. The “Iowa Nice” vibe was real, well before that term was coined!!
After we returned to Iowa, I was able to view Des Moines from a new perspective. It had changed and grown significantly, with lots to do for young families and it felt like a great “little-big city.”
Iowa is such a hidden gem and the people here are truly the best! Plus, I love that you can drive by corn and soybean fields anytime and be up close to our farmer customers. We have a greater appreciation for the work they do every day for Iowa and for the world so much more by living here.
2. What excites you most about working at John Deere and sharing the impact of its technology on customers?
It is exciting to see the ideas and expertise of John Deere employees brought to the market and put to work in the hands of our customers. There’s so much technology in our machines — it’s wild! When we look at how much our customers can manage their farming operation or construction site from their phone, that’s really exciting to me. From simply understanding where their fleet of machines are, how efficiently they’re running or now being able to run a machine autonomously from a smartphone…it’s so cool to see our customers’ reaction when they use the tech. Time in the field with customers is something we cherish as an organization.
I love seeing how our engineers design and develop tech solutions. We get to help farmers remain profitable so they can continue farming for the next 10 generations. Telling their stories is the best part of my job!
3. One of John Deere’s products was just named as the winner of the 2025 Coolest Thing Made in Iowa competition. How does one of John Deere’s Iowa plants serve cotton producers around the world?
It is often a surprise to people that John Deere designs and delivers the world’s most advanced cotton harvesting equipment at our production plant in Ankeny, Iowa! While Iowa’s climate is not as well suited for growing cotton as it is for corn and soybeans, Iowa-based Deere teams have been serving cotton producers for decades. We put cutting-edge technology to work so cotton farmers can more efficiently and sustainably grow the cotton we use every day in jeans, t-shirts, socks, bedding, towels, gauze, cotton swabs, wipes and more!
We are excited that the CP770 cotton picker is the winner of the 2025 Coolest Thing Made in Iowa competition sponsored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI). It is a recognition of the hard work and commitment of all our team members who are pushing boundaries to innovate on behalf of our customers.
4. What advice do you have for someone considering a move or return to Iowa?
Truly evaluate all the things you want for yourself and your family. Then take note of all of things you remember about growing up or living in Iowa. Upon our return from Colorado, we had a deep appreciation for how warm and welcoming Iowans are to everyone.
Smaller towns have immense pride, rich history and the leadership to keep their communities thriving. Though we’ve lived in Des Moines for almost 20 years, we’ve explored so many small and medium towns to see what each community has to offer and most importantly, getting to meet more Iowans!
5. Please share three recommendations of things to do or places to go in Iowa.
There is live music everywhere, often in places where you don’t expect it! In Lake View, Iowa, the Stone Pier Summer Concert Series presents free concerts along Black Hawk Lake throughout the summer.
In the summer, I love the free Yoga in the Park sessions at Gray’s Lake in Des Moines, then heading for a hike at The Ledges State Park. We found the park early in our move back to the state as we did miss hiking in Colorado.
In the winter, I ice skate at the West Des Moines RecPlex ice arena and take a short drive to Seven Oaks Recreation near Boone to get a few runs on my snowboard.
Published June 2025