PEORIA, Illinois, January 31, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Company will
maintain significant presence in Peoria area
- New location will improve access to global customers, dealers
and Caterpillar's worldwide operations, while also enhancing
executive recruitment
- Peoria, Illinois, area will
continue to have largest concentration of employees in the
world
- Previously announced Peoria
headquarters complex will not be built
Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) announced today it will locate a
limited group of senior executives and support functions in the
Chicago area later this year and
reaffirmed the ongoing importance of its presence in Peoria and Central
Illinois.
"Caterpillar's Board of Directors has been discussing the
benefits of a more accessible, strategic location for some time,"
said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby.
"Since 2012, about two-thirds of Caterpillar's sales and revenues
have come from outside the United
States. Locating our headquarters closer to a global
transportation hub, such as Chicago, means we can meet with our global
customers, dealers and employees more easily and frequently."
"We value our deep roots in Central
Illinois, and Peoria will
continue to be our hometown. The vast majority of our people will
remain in this important region where we have many essential
facilities and functions," added Umpleby. "The new location is also
an opportunity to add to our talented team while improving the
productivity of our senior leaders."
As a result of continuing challenging market conditions and the
need to prioritize resources to focus on growth, Caterpillar will
not build the previously announced headquarters complex in
Peoria. The current headquarters
building will continue to be used for Caterpillar offices.
Over the last five years, even while facing these challenging
conditions, Caterpillar, along with its employees and retirees, has
contributed more than $60 million to
support thousands of families, organizations and programs across
Central Illinois. The company will
continue its philanthropic support and deep civic involvement in
the Peoria area.
"As mayor, I never want jobs moving out of the city. However,
the overwhelming majority of Caterpillar employees and their
families based in the Peoria area
won't be impacted by this decision. I'm pleased Caterpillar
continues to call Peoria its
hometown," said Peoria Mayor
Jim Ardis.
"If Caterpillar succeeds globally, we win in Central Illinois. I'm disappointed we can't
keep every job here, but if moving some of its team near
Chicago helps Caterpillar thrive,
it will benefit Peoria, our county
and the surrounding communities," said Peoria County Board Chairman Andrew Rand.
A limited number of senior executives will move into leased
office space beginning in 2017. Once the new location is fully
operational, Caterpillar expects about 300 employees to be based
there, which includes some positions relocated from the
Peoria area.
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.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release relate to future events
and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would,"
"expect," "anticipate," "plan," "project," "intend," "could,"
"should" or other similar words or expressions often identify
forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of
historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without
limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections,
forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee
future performance, and we do not undertake to update our
forward-looking statements.
Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those
described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a
number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and
regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the
industries we serve; (ii) government monetary or fiscal policies
and infrastructure spending; (iii) commodity price changes,
component price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products
or significant shortages of component products; (iv) disruptions or
volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of
liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers;
(v) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events
beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (vi)
failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting
increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost
of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital
markets; (vii) our Financial Products segment's risks associated
with the financial services industry; (viii) changes in interest
rates or market liquidity conditions; (ix) an increase in
delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's
customers; (x) new regulations or changes in financial services
regulations; (xi) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing,
all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures
or divestitures; (xii) international trade policies and their
impact on demand for our products and our competitive position;
(xiii) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products
that meet our customers' needs; (xiv) the impact of the highly
competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and
pricing; (xv) failure to realize all of the anticipated benefits
from initiatives to increase our productivity, efficiency and cash
flow and to reduce costs; (xvi) additional restructuring costs or a
failure to realize anticipated savings or benefits from past or
future cost reduction actions; (xvii) inventory management
decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM
customers; (xviii) compliance with environmental laws and
regulations; (xix) alleged or actual violations of trade or
anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xx) additional tax expense
or exposure; (xxi) currency fluctuations; (xxii) our or Cat
Financial's compliance with financial covenants; (xxiii) increased
pension plan funding obligations; (xxiv) union disputes or other
employee relations issues; (xxv) significant legal proceedings,
claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxvi) changes in
accounting standards; (xxvii) failure or breach of IT security;
(xxviii) adverse effects of unexpected events including natural
disasters; and (xxix) other factors described in more detail under
"Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on
February 16, 2016 for the year ended
December 31, 2015.
CONTACT: Rachel Potts,
Global Government & Corporate Affairs, 309-675-6892,
309-573-3444, Potts_Rachel_A@cat.com
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