Deere & Co..

Dr. J.B. Penn joins Deere & Co. to head the company's new Office of Chief Economist, with responsibility for analyzing global macro-economic, policy and trade developments to help the company achieve sustainable, strong business results.

He had most recently served as the USDA Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services. Prior to USDA, Penn was Sr VP and Mgr of Sparks Companies, Inc.'s Washington office for over a dozen years. Prior to joining Sparks, he was Pres of Economic Perspectives, Inc.