Quincy Reporter

State Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) has blamed Illinois' "hostile business environment" for the relocation of several big corporations.

"Illinois is one of only seven states to lose a Congressional seat," he said. "The reason we lost a seat is because of stagnate population growth. We are not growing like states such as Texas or Florida. The reason we are not growing is because of our state’s hostile business environment. The result is job loss and population loss." 

Bailey said Gov. J.B. Pritzker refuses to talk about what is happening under his watch because his policies are the reason these companies are leaving. "We can’t keep pretending these problems don’t exist. It is time to confront them head on. J.B. Pritzker is unwilling to do the job. It is time we had a governor who will implement the policies we know will reverse the mass exodus from our state. States like Florida and Texas have provided the blueprint to economic growth. We need a governor who will follow their lead and turn our economy around."

A video produced by The Wall Street Journal summarized the closure of important business offices. "After years of operating in Illinois, three major companies—Boeing, Caterpillar and Citadel—are moving their headquarters out of the state. In this video, WSJ looks at the economic and political implications,” the Wall Street Journal said in its preview of the video.

Many companies have moved their corporate headquarters outside of the state. Among those is Boeing which declared that it would depart the area starting in May. The aerospace giant, which was founded in Washington, relocated to Chicago in 2001, NBC 5 Chicago reported. More than 16,000 jobs, or more than 10% of the company's workforce, were lost as a result of the pandemic.

Caterpillar is relocating its corporate headquarters to Irving, Texas. Jim Umpleby, the chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar, said that the decision was made with the company's "strategic interest" in mind, the Chicago Tribune reported. The move would have no effect on the 230 workers at the company headquarters, according to Caterpillar.

Citadel Securities said that security concerns were the primary factor in the decision to move from Chicago to Miami. “The firms are having difficulty recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city,” Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman, told The New York Times. “Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe.”