The company synonymous with Peoria, Ill., Caterpillar, will move its global headquarters to Chicago because it is closer to the global marketplace for the world’s largest manufacturer of earth-moving equipment, says the Peoria Journal Star. Caterpillar was founded in Peoria, in central Illinois, in 1925 and has been the dominant employer.
Cat’s new chief executive, Jim Umpleby, told the Journal-Star that the company will continue to have more employees in the Peoria area than anywhere in the world. The city “really will still be, in my view, the center of the universe for Caterpillar.” But the headquarters, with an estimated 300 employees, will move to rented offices in the Chicago area by the end of this year.
Two years ago, Caterpillar said it intended to build a new global headquarters across the block from its current HQ in downtown Peoria. “Much as changed … to Caterpillar’s plans and bottom line,” said the newspaper. Since fall 2015, the company has eliminated 16,000 jobs and closed or consolidated 30 facilities. Sales and revenue in 2016 were more than 40 percent below their peak in 2012.