Manufacturing has long been woven into Ankeny’s history. 

In the early 1940s, Ankeny was home to a large ordinance plant that produced nearly 4 billion rounds of ammunition for use in World War II. After the war, a large portion of the site was redeveloped by John Deere, now the city’s largest private employer with about 1,500 workers.

Today, Ankeny continues to support a strong manufacturing base. Among the numerous manufacturers located in the northern Polk County community are Mrs. Clark’s Foods, which makes salad dressings and mayonnaise; Kreg Tool Co., known for its power tools; and AccuMold, a maker of micro-molded components for the medical and automotive industries.

And the industry continues to expand. JBS USA plans to locate a new ready-to-eat bacon and ready-to-eat production facility in a recently idled plant in Ankeny and New Horizon Cuisine, the maker of organic soups and other products for the food service industry, plans on building a new production facility.

“Manufacturing has been a large part of the fabric and culture of our community,” said Derek Lord, Ankeny’s economic development director. “I think it will continue to be long into the future.”

Growth of the sector in Ankeny has been deliberate, Lord said.

“Manufacturing plays to our strengths in who we are,” he said. “For us to go a totally different direction that’s been decades in the making, wouldn’t make sense.”

Ankeny has leveraged its deep manufacturing roots in several ways. A large portion of the land on either side of Interstate Highway 35, which dissects the community, has been readied for development with the installation of streets, utilities and other infrastructure. The city, working closely with the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Greater Des Moines Partnership, has pursued companies looking to expand their footprints by touting its skilled workforce and the large number of manufacturers already in Ankeny.

“Industries oftentimes like to cluster around similar peer companies and manufacturing is no different,” Lord said. “We have one of the largest Deere manufacturing facilities in the world right here in Ankeny. That is a selling point to future manufacturers who are considering Central Iowa. Why? They are thinking ‘If it’s worked for [Deere] it surely can work for us.’”

Central Iowa – and Ankeny in particular – continues to experience strong growth, attracting both new residents and businesses. That growth has fueled an expanding workforce. Between 2015 and 2025, the number of jobs located in Ankeny grew by 18%, federal data shows.

The community’s manufacturing sector has also grown.

In 2015, 7.5% of the city’s 34,246 jobs, or 2,589 positions, were in manufacturing, the data shows. Now, nearly 10% of the jobs based in Ankeny — 4,005 out of 40,564 — are in manufacturing.

A decade or more ago, it was important for communities to have shovel-ready sites available for potential companies to locate, Lord said. While that remains important, offering a “desirable place to live” is now just as important, he said.

Iowa’s workforce is shrinking mostly because of an aging population and declining birth rate, a trend that could make attracting new businesses difficult. Persuading companies to locate in a community becomes easier when a wide range of amenities are offered.

Ankeny is next to Saylorville and Big Creek lake recreation areas. It is a hub for Central Iowa recreational trails. A variety of restaurants and bars are in the community. Des Moines Area Community College’s main campus is in Ankeny, which is less than 30 miles south of Iowa State University in Ames.

Since 2020, Ankeny has added over 8,000 new residents to increase its population by just over 12% or to 76,207, according to recent census information. The community is the fifth largest in Iowa.

“Ankeny’s population is growing which tells potential employers people want to live here,” Lord said. “They will move here because their future workforce is already moving here.”

The availability of workers is one of the reasons JBS USA decided to open a production facility in Ankeny, a company spokesperson recently said. About 400 jobs are expected to be created at the plant, which is expected to be operational by mid-2026.

“We have a workforce with an aptitude towards manufacturing,” Lord said. “It’s one of our strengths.”

More online: The final installment of the Business Record’s three-part series on manufacturing published today online and in print. To read the story and view an interactive map of new and expanding manufacturing companies that have been awarded state incentives, click here.