Caterpillar To Move Global HQ To Chicago Area Later This Year

CHICAGO, IL — Caterpillar will be moving its global headquarters — along with about 300 employees — from Peoria to the Chicago area later this year, the company announced Tuesday.

The company cited "continuing challenging market conditions and the need to prioritize resources to focus on growth" as the reasons behind uprooting from central Illinois and relocating to a larger, urban setting, such as Chicago.

“Since 2012, about two-thirds of Caterpillar’s sales and revenues have come from outside the United States," Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement. "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.”

Umpleby said the company's board of directors has been discussing a move from its central Illinois "hometown" for a while. The exact location for Caterpillar's new HQ has yet to be determined, according to Crain's Chicago Business, but a limited number of senior executives will move into leased office space in the area later this year.

Although Caterpillar's current Peoria headquarters will still be used for company offices, the move does scrap plans to build a previously announced headquarters complex there.

Image via Caterpillar Inc.

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