[ithakas]

Why Cat won't be the last Chicago-bound HQ

Caterpillar's Jan. 31 decision to move its headquarters from Peoria to the Chicago area follows on the heels of similar moves by ADM and ConAgra—and ramps up recruiting pressure on downstate's other big corporate fish, Deere and State Farm, as well as out-of-state companies like Kellogg and SC Johnson, which remains headquartered in its historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed campus in Racine, Wis., despite announcing plans in November 2015 to move approximately 175 white-collar workers to Chicago. SC Johnson's move came just days after Kraft Heinz confirmed it would transplant the headquarters of its Oscar Mayer unit from Madison, Wis. to Chicago's Aon Center.

Within a 300-mile radius of Chicago lie such tantalizing targets as Steelcase of Grand Rapids, Mich., Eli Lilly of Indianapolis or Fiserv of Brookfield, Wis. Could Chicago hope to capture such deeply entrenched out-of-town players?

Source: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...d-headquarters