Caterpillar leaving Illinois, moving global headquarters from Illinois to Texas this year
Caterpillar Inc. announced plans Tuesday to move its global headquarters from Deerfield, Ill., to the company's existing office in Irving, Texas.
"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," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby.
Caterpillar has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s, the company said in the news release. Illinois retains the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world, with 12,000 in the Peoria region alone as of 2018.
January 2018: Caterpillar officially names Deerfield its headquarters
The company will begin transitioning its headquarters to Irving this year. Caterpillar last moved its global headquarters in 2017, from Peoria to Deerfield. The company had been previously headquartered in Peoria since 1930.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker asserted that despite Caterpillar's move, Illinois has become a leader in attracting small and large corporations. He reiterated his administration's commitment to driving job growth throughout the state.
"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," Pritzker said. "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."
In a Thursday statement to The Dallas Morning News, Caterpillar Inc. global media and public affairs manager Kate Kenny said talent attraction was a key reason for the relocation.
"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 employees to aid in retention," Kenny said. "The Irving location provides global access to our employees, customers and dealers with close proximity to two major airports."
Caterpillar currently has 126 job openings in Texas at careers.caterpillar.com.
How Peoria lost Caterpillar's headquarters
An elaborate new headquarters for Downtown Peoria was announced in 2015.
Three eight-story office towers were to anchor a six-block, 31-acre campus. Green space, walking and biking paths and retail options were included.
February 2015: Caterpillar staying put in Peoria, expanding headquarters
But those plans were scuttled just two years later during an economic downturn for the company.
First to city leaders, then to employees and finally to the community, Caterpillar revealed its change of course: The plans to build a new office complex in Downtown Peoria had been scrapped, and the company would move its global headquarters to the Chicago area by the end of 2017.
"What we're really after here in terms of the location is access to flights and the ability to get to markets more quickly," Umpleby said then.
January 2017: Caterpillar moving headquarters, CEO from Peoria to Chicago
At the time, Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis called it "a punch in the gut," while state Sen. Dave Koehler said, "It's something that everyone feared, but had hoped would never happen."
From the history books: With Cat's last HQ move, Peoria was all smiles
In announcing the move to the Chicago area, Umpleby said that the board of directors had been discussing a new location for some time.
“Since 2012, about two-thirds of Caterpillar’s sales and revenues have come from outside the United States," Umpleby said. "Locating our headquarters closer to a global transportation hub, such as Chicago, means we can meet with our global customers, dealers and employees more easily and frequently.”
Caterpillar is the second major corporation to recently leave the Chicago area. Boeing Co. said in May that it was moving its headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area.
This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Caterpillar news: Caterpillar Deerfield IL to move HQ to Texas
