One of the state’s biggest employers is relocating their headquarters to Irving, Texas. A decade ago Caterpillar’s CEO warned state leaders of business losses unless they balanced the budget, controlled workers’ comp costs and cut taxes. He was ignored.
After nearly a century, Caterpillar is moving its corporate headquarters out of Illinois. Their office in Irving, Texas, will transition into the new base camp.
Illinois state leaders were warned a decade ago by Caterpillar’s CEO about what they needed to do to keep businesses from leaving. His warning in 2012 about balanced budgets, workers’ compensation costs and taxes were not only ignored, but the problems have grown worse.
The construction and mining equipment giant is the second major company to leave Illinois in five weeks. Boeing aerospace also announced its headquarters was moving to Virginia.
“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 CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement.
Most of Caterpillar’s 230 corporate employees will gradually transition to the new headquarters. Caterpillar will still employ more than 17,000 Illinoisans after the move, but there’s no guarantee those jobs will stay in Illinois.
Illinois Chamber of Commerce President Todd Maisch said even with employees remaining in the state, Caterpillar moving their headquarters is a bad sign.
Read more here.
Nice job idiots…how many more large corporations will Illinois have to lose before Illinois voters demand a conservative change? Answer – no more losses. Why? Because Illinois voters – primarily driven by the Chicago and suburban electorate are imbeciles.