Posted on 06/15/2022 6:27:43 AM PDT by Red Badger
First it was Boeing, which announced a few weeks ago that it was moving its headquarters from Chicago to the Washington DC area. Boeing had moved to Chicago from its long-time home in Seattle 20 years ago to “be closer to its customers.” So this move to DC makes sense as the federal government is increasingly a primary “customer” of Boeing products—not just defense material, but its commercial aircraft and other product lines for which the FAA and NASA are now de facto managerial partners.
Today, heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar announced that it, too, is pulling up stakes and moving its headquarters from Chicago to Irving, Texas. Cat has been a pillar of the business community in Illinois for more than 100 years. As the Wall Street Journal reports:
The maker of construction and mining equipment said Tuesday that its existing office in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, would serve as its new global headquarters. Caterpillar said that the move from its current base in suburban Chicago would help it grow and that the company wasn’t getting any economic or tax incentives related to the headquarters move.
The move—expected to affect the roughly 230 corporate employees at Caterpillar’s headquarters—is the latest in a series of recent relocations that have drawn major manufacturers closer to corporate and government customers, and tech giants from Silicon Valley to Texas.
I like the sentence that Texas wasn’t offering any tax incentives to Caterpillar for the move. Texas doesn’t need to. Having no personal income tax is tax incentive enough, and that’s available to everybody, not just favored companies. Even the Journal’s conventional (meaning mostly liberal) news pages can’t really conceal this, noting: “Manufacturers have increasingly turned to the Southwest as a destination for new factories, drawn by available space, appealing tax policies and an expanding technology workforce.”
I wonder if it will occur to anyone in Illinois to ask: “Gee-I wonder if it was something we taxed?”
Alternative formula: What do you get when you keep your taxes and Democrats down? Prosperity.
Chaser (and heh):
I like it too. Living in NY taxpayers have to pay state taxes AND the corporate incentives. It will eventually kill the state.
What is not appealing about apocalyptic landscapes of Chicongo broken glass, homelessness, crime, and boarded up businesses?
And the weather is a lot nicer in Texas.....................
They had already moved their headquarters from Peoria to the Chicago area a few years ago.
I guess it didn’t play well in Peoria...................
I relocated to the Great State of Texas about 8 yrs ago. I was sentenced to do 3 years in Phiwwy (job relo) and after 3 miserable years in that Rat-infested hell-hole, I escaped to a North Dallas suburb. Working in Phiwwy, I had to pay Federal Income Tax, State Income Tax, and a City Income Tax!
I now only pay Federal.
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Texas!
Just don’t bring your existing employees or any liberal voting and hire only conservatives.
In an associated industry there is John Deere that has a Moline IL headquarters. Any bets that their thoughts are rumbling? It may not be Texas but getting away from Illinois and their ever-present tax problems has to be a board room conversation!
Then there is the Chicago investment & financial operations like the CBOE and the like. In previous era, you had to have a trading floor and presence for that agricultural market that centered on Chicago’s geographic hub. Now, especially after COVID? That “Miracle Mile” does not have that same cachet as it once did.
Hahahahahahahahahaahahahah! LOL that comment is justification for this silly figure of speech surviving until now. Nice!
Empire Zones, NY's failed aid to companies, still costing taxpayers: $3 billion plus
And it had gone up to $5 bil last I knew, but I couldn't find a quick cite for that.
And NYS is an economic wasteland.
DiNapoli: ESD has failed to monitor its economic development programs
Q for federal taxpayers: Why are you still allowing Deep State to shovel us your money?!
Only us old guys will know what that means!.....................
“I was sentenced to do 3 years in Phiwwy...”
Do you mean Philly (Philadelphia)? Never saw anyone write with a speech impediment before. jk Lol
With the Internet you could have the ‘Trading Floor’ in El Paso..........................
With the internet you could have congress critters dispersed to their home states/locales.
Yep! But that would make them more accountable to the people, and we can’t have that, now can we?.........................
I thought Caterpiller was moving production to Mexico.
Texas will be their home office HQ.................
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