WATERLOO -- John Deere is racking up record donations in the Cedar Valley, as well as record profits at the corporate level.

Deere's Waterloo operations said Friday that its employees had pledged more than $1 million to the Cedar Valley United Way.

Deere donations to the Cedar Valley United Way this year will exceed $1.06 million, which set a record, the company said.

The total beat last year's record of $1 million, the company said. It is the first company to donate $1 million to the Cedar Valley United Way.

Deere said there was a 20 percent increase in the number of workers donating to the United Way and a 13 percent rise in contributions.

The Cedar Valley United Way helps support 91 programs through dozens of agencies in the area.

Deere conducted 55 rallies for workers in two weeks during its fund-raising campaign.

Waterloo Mayor Tim Hurley, a Deere retiree, and his wife, Kathy McCoy, are co-chairs for the entire Cedar Valley Campaign.

"It's been driven into them and into us for decades now," Hurley said in a news release. "The idea of true value, of honest value, of genuine value and the United Way is the same thing. The needs are always great, but this year, they're much greater."

The 2-1-1 information and referral service answered more than 21,000 calls for food and shelter immediately following the tornadoes and floods in May and June. The United Way helps fund that program.

"The United Way is about achieving results and measurable results, so there's not a better place to donate your money where you can really make a difference to the most people in the community," said Thad Nevitt, Deere Waterloo Works manufacturing manager. "The United Way is the best vehicle to do that."

Rodger will be the Cedar Valley United Way Campaign co-chairman next year with Jim Mudd, Sr., of the Mudd Group.

"I think the recent disasters we had just remind people of how important a safety net is in the community and it reminds people that the benefits are real of having the safety net and the needs are real," Rodger said.

The company also credited participation of the United Auto Workers Local 838.

"Traditionally as our Cedar Valley United Way UAW members have given, so goes the Cedar Valley," said Scott Grapp, president of UAW Local 838. "The leadership before me supported the United Way; I also support the United Way wholeheartedly," Grapp said, referring to his predecessor, Jerry Northey, the longest-tenured Local 838 president in its history.

Deere on a corporate level recently recorded a record-tying fifth consecutive year of record profits, breaking $2 billion in earnings for the first time in its 171-year history for the fiscal year which ended Oct. 31.