Caterpillar Inc. announced Tuesday it is moving its headquarters from Illinois to Texas.
The construction and mining equipment giant indicated its new global headquarters will be located at its existing office in Irving, Texas, near Dallas, according to a press release. The company is almost 100-years-old and was based in Peoria, Illinois, for many decades before moving in 2018 to Deerfield, near Chicago, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.
“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 the statement issued by the company. (RELATED: Comedian Alex Stein Freestyle Raps About Abortion At City Council Meeting)
Caterpillar to move global headquarters to Texas https://t.co/attT4NBRBO pic.twitter.com/3vQ9ZVdA0e
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 14, 2022
About 230 corporate employees, a small percentage of its almost 108,000-employee workforce, will be impacted by the move, according to the WSJ. The outlet noted that the move is a significant setback for Chicago and the state of Illinois, which have been attempting to attract more companies into the area.
Chicago lost 1.6% of its population in the year ending July 2021, likely in part due to rising crime rates that have reportedly forced some wealthy residents to hire private police. Boeing Co. also decided in May to relocate its global headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, from Chicago, the WSJ reported.
Caterpillar will join other American companies such as Tesla Inc., Oracle Corp., and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. in moving to Texas, according to the outlet.