I can’t figure out why they would pick Chicago over much more friendly Tax and Regulation sites. There must be some kind of financial incentive we are not hearing about.
The reason is their CEO wanted to be a CEO of a 47 billion dollar company in Chicago, not Peoria. In Chicago, you get invited to $10,000 a plate dinners. In Peoria, you get invited to a free chicken dinner at the VFW hall. (The food is WAAAAY better at the VFW hall.) This is about the ego of a CEO, period. Just like the ego of a corrupt mayor led to the closing of the airport closest to BOEING’S HQ once it moved.
He wants courtside seats to the Chicago Bulls, not the Bradley University Beaves. He wants a luxury loge at the Blackhawk’s game, not the Peoria Rivermen which doesn’t have luxury ANYTHING. He wants to see the Chicago Cubs the world champions, not the Peoria Chiefs, a single-A team.
He wants to go to the Chicago Art Institute where you can see works by Seurat, not the Peoria Wheels’O’Time museum where you can see a 1956 Chevy. He wants to be a 20 minute drive from O’Hate where you can fly to three continents, not a 40 minute drive to Central Illinois Regoinal Airport where you can fly to three cities.
This sucks for Peoria. But Peoria can only offer so much. And when you’re the CEO of a $47 billion company, you work where you want to.