Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) announced that its new global headquarters will be located in Deerfield, Illinois, a northern Chicago suburb. The new headquarters building is minutes away from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, is centrally located near major interstates and offers direct access to the Chicago Metra.
"Following a thorough site selection process, we chose this location because it is approximately a 20-minute drive to O'Hare airport and convenient to the city of Chicago via commuter train, achieving our goal to be more accessible to our global customers, dealers and employees," said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby. "This site gives our employees many options to live in either an urban or suburban environment. We know we have to compete for the best talent to grow our company, and this location will appeal to our diverse, global team, today and in the future."
Caterpillar reached a multi-year leasing agreement with Corporate 500 office park. The company expects about 100 employees to relocate this year, with about 300 people in the new headquarters when fully operational in mid-2018.
"We are pleased that Caterpillar selected our community as the location for its new global headquarters," stated Harriet Rosenthal, mayor of Deerfield. "Caterpillar joins several other well-known national and international companies who enjoy the amenities and ease of access to transportation that Deerfield has to offer."
Deerfield and the company's growing Digital & Analytics Hub in Chicago's downtown Merchandise Mart, which opened in 2016, add to Caterpillar's 60-year presence in the Chicago-area.
"The transition from Peoria to the new global headquarters will begin later this year. As we've previously indicated, the vast majority of our employees currently in the Peoria area will not be relocating to our new headquarters," said Umpleby. "With our strong presence of over 12,000 employees in central Illinois, we'll continue our philanthropic support and civic involvement."
About Caterpillar
For more than 90 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. Customers turn to Caterpillar to help them develop infrastructure, energy and natural resource assets. With 2016 sales and revenues of $38.537 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. The company principally operates through its three product segments - Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation - and also provides financing and related services through its Financial Products segment. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/social-media.