Not playing in Chicago: CAT latest corporate titan to move HQ out of Illinois
CHICAGO — Machinery manufacturer Caterpillar will move its approximately 230 corporate employees to Irving, Texas, beginning this year, while the move won’t affect approximately 17,000 other employees of the company who work in Illinois, according to coverage from Bloomberg.
The corporate offices are currently in Deerfield, having moved there from Peoria in 2017. Peoria is still the site of 12,000 Caterpillar jobs. Caterpillar has had its corporate offices in Illinois for nearly 100 years.
COMPANY’S ‘BEST INTEREST:’ “We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Spokeswoman Kate Kenny said in an email to Bloomberg, “We believe being in the Dallas-Fort Worth market will give us the ability to attract new talent and provide additional career opportunities for our current employees to aid in retention.”
Caterpillar follows Boeing in moving corporate offices from Illinois, as the aerospace company announced a move to Arlington, Virginia, in May.
GOVERNOR DISAPPOINTED: Pritzker, in a statement, called the latest news “disappointing,” claiming the state continues to “be a leader in attracting large and midsize corporate relocations.” On Monday, Pritzker touted recent business expansions from Boeing, Chicago Magnesium Casting Co., electric car manufacturer Rivian, Discover Card and Lion Electric.
“It’s disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company in East Peoria, Mapleton, Mossville, Pontiac and Decatur – which remains Caterpillar’s largest manufacturing plant in North America after the company’s recent expansion. My administration will continue to drive job growth throughout the state, making clear to the world why Illinois is the best state in the nation to live, work, play and do business.”
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