By Lucas Manfredi
Construction and mining equipment giant Caterpillar will ditch Deerfield, Illinois and relocate its global headquarters to Irving, Texas.
“We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” Caterpillar chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement.
Caterpillar, which has more than 107,000 employees globally, has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s across several areas of the company. However, Illinois remains the largest concentration of Caterpillar employees anywhere in the world.
A Caterpillar spokesperson told FOX Business it expects the majority of its roughly 230 employees at its Deerfield headquarters to make the move to Irving, Texas.
Other companies that have made the move to the Lone Star State in recent years include Oracle, Tesla and Hewlett Packard Enterprises.
“Texas widened its lead as the #1 state in America for Fortune 500 company headquarters,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted. “We are proud that Catapillar now calls Texas home. We are a perfect fit for this international brand.”
Representatives for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker did not immediately return FOX Business’ request for comment.
Caterpillar’s departure follows Boeing’s announcement that it would move its global headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Virginia.
In addition, Boeing competitor Raytheon Technologies will follow the company to Arlington after announcing plans to leave Waltham, Massachusetts.