Caterpillar to move headquarters out of Deerfield, Illinois

DEERFIELD, Ill. - Construction giant Caterpillar Inc., announced Tuesday it will relocate its global headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois to an existing office in 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," Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said in a statement.

Illinois currently represents the largest concentration of Caterpillar workers in the world.

The company had been based in Peoria, Illinois, for over 90 years before announcing a move to Deerfield in 2017. At the time, it touted Deerfield as meeting its goal of being more accessible to its global customers, dealers and employees.

The transition to Texas will begin this year, the company said in a statement. 

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Irving, Texas is roughly 20 minutes northwest of Dallas.

It’s the latest major corporation to ditch the Chicago area after Boeing Co. said last month that it was moving its headquarters to the Washington, D.C., area.

A handful of technology companies have also recently shifted their headquarters from California’s Silicon Valley to Texas. Tesla and Oracle have moved to Austin, while Hewlett-Packard Packard Enterprises is now in Spring, Texas, outside Houston.

Associated Press contributed to this report.