February 1, 2017
By Alexander Aguiluz.
Caterpillar Inc. announced Tuesday morning that it will be relocating its global headquarters from Peoria, IL to Chicago. This follows their financial review of 2016 which placed their loss of sales at $47 billion.
The news comes as a blow to the residents of Peoria. While most of the 12,000 employees will remain in Peoria, the idea of the city losing the status of being home of Caterpillar is not something they’re pleased with. Caterpillar is a central part of the spirit of Peoria. There is a minor-league park named ‘Dozer Park,’ and a Caterpillar Museum right off the interstate.
Caterpillar has been seeing its decline in recent years. In 2015, the company cut 16,000 jobs worldwide alone. Earlier that year they announced plans to build a new complex in the city limits. Two years later those plans have been firmly cancelled, with the new headquarters moving to Chicago.
Caterpillar Inc. plans to finalize the relocation of 300 employees to their new Chicago headquarters by the end of 2017.
