* An announcement is expected next week…
…Adding… Durbin and Duckworth…
U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement regarding Boeing’s plans to move its headquarters from Chicago to Washington, D.C.:
“Boeing’s decision to leave Illinois is incredibly disappointing—every level of government in our state has worked to make Chicago and Illinois the perfect home for Boeing’s headquarters for the past 20 years. We are working together to ensure Boeing leadership both understands how harmful this move will be and does everything possible to protect Illinois’s workers and jobs.”
In 2001, Durbin initiated two letters to then-Boeing Chairman and CEO Philip Condit when the company announced plans to leave the Seattle area, including a bipartisan letter that was signed by 17 Illinois Members of Congress.
* Crain’s…
Two decades ago, Illinois officials offered Boeing a $51 million package of tax breaks and incentives to lay down roots in Chicago. The state forked over $30 million, down from its original offer of $41 million that lawmakers ultimately deemed too hefty. An additional $21 million of deal sweeteners came from Chicago.
In exchange, Boeing was supposed to bring 500 top-level jobs to its new home—or at least that’s what public officials had advertised. Subsequent reporting by the Better Government Association shows Boeing has received more than $60 million in tax breaks despite falling short of the 500 job mark in at least four of the years since it moved. Politicians and Boeing apparently had different understandings of how to reach that metric and which employees would count toward fulfilling it, such as positions that are technically located in Gary. There were also different interpretations about whether hiring here or transferring people from Seattle would both meet the agreement.
Worries that Boeing might leave Chicago have been swirling for more than a year, since the company decided to review its real estate amid the upheaval from COVID-19 and the 737 Max debacle that sapped the company’s profits. Reuters last year called Boeing’s headquarters a “ghost town.”
- In the know - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 11:50 am:
But but but “Illinois is a terrible place for business” Say Republicans all over
- phocion - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 11:51 am:
Not good for Chicago or for Illinois. Both Lightfoot and Pritzker are going to take a political hit from this.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 11:51 am:
Boeing Takes Off to DC
They ain’t no Fly By Night corporation, I’m sure Boeing was tired being in a Holding Pattern, waiting for the next better deal.
- Give Us Barabbas - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:00 pm:
I’m not surprised. If you’ve followed what has happened since the McDonnell aquisition, the company has been killed and taken over from the inside by a completely different management philosophy. Their commercial jet and space divisions have been ruined by it, and what’s left is the pursuit of military contracts, so they want to be closer to the Pentagon.
- ChicagoVinny - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:00 pm:
I assume the newish CEO lives near DC?
Also better for their regulatory capture efforts after 737 MAX disaster.
- Google Is Your Friend - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:05 pm:
- phocion - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 11:51 am:
Pop quiz, how many Illinoisans know Boeing is headquartered in Chicago?
- JS Mill - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:06 pm:
@Give Us Barabbas nails it.
- Excitable Boy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:16 pm:
- @Give Us Barabbas nails it. -
Seconded
- Colin O'Scopy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:19 pm:
I never really felt that Boeing was a part of Chicago. Manufacturing rooted in Seattle with an eye toward Pentagon projects, Chicago was merely a half-way point. Their loss will only be felt on the promotional material that Pritzker and Lightfoot use to claim a large corporate HQ presence.
- Al - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:20 pm:
Washington D.C. has more Golf quality weather days. The folks who moved the HQ to Chicago are retired.
- PublicServant - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:21 pm:
Queuing for the IPI “Boeing is fleeing Chicago, and Illinois.” announcement.
- Torco Sign - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:22 pm:
Well, it certainly makes JB’s airport campaign commercial seen in a different light now.
- Jose Abreu's Next Homer - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:25 pm:
They’re going to miss out on the new city casino
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:27 pm:
BA’s HQ like many others is becoming outdated due to the post covid home/office hybrid model
from CNN
“Boeing’s Chicago headquarters hosts about 500 employees and previously labeled it as a “ghost town,” according to an article from Reuters in October 2021. ”
Same thing happening at the large Insurance Offices in Chicagoland. They may not relocate - but they sure are downsizing.
- Nicky - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:38 pm:
They’ll miss out on all the crime
Oh wait
DC
- Benjamin - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:45 pm:
Par for the course for the defense industry, sadly. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are both headquartered in the DC area as well.
Before the consolidations in the defense industry at the end of the Cold War, Lockheed, General Dynamics, Rockwell, and Northrop were in LA, Boeing was in Seattle, McDonnell-Douglas in St. Louis, Grumman in the New York suburbs, and Martin Marietta in Baltimore. Now, everyone wants to be next door to the bureaucrats.
- Benjamin - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:47 pm:
Ah, no, wait, General Dynamics’ aircraft operations were in Fort Worth. Point stands, though.
- levivotedforjudy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:53 pm:
They were World Business Chicago’s first big win. Phil Condit was running Boeing then. FYI/trivia: His daughter was living in Chicago when they moved here.
- JP Altgeld - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:54 pm:
I would like someone to give me a realistic, sober assessment and name me three things that are actually going well in Chicago right now. Let’s hear three.
Personally? I don’t think I can name one.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 12:56 pm:
===I would like someone to give me a realistic, sober assessment and name me three things that are actually going well in Chicago right now. Let’s hear three.
What three things do you want changed in Chicago
Let’s hear three.
- Dave - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:20 pm:
Politicians gave ‘em $60 million in tax incentives to move HQ to Chicago in 2001, spread out over 20 years. The two-decade deal expired and they now flee the scene.
- Da big bad wolf - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:25 pm:
3 things?
1. Site Selection magazine named Chicago number one again (number one since 2013) for number of qualifying projects.
2. O’Hare is now the nation’s number one port (beating out tue Port of Los Angeles)for number of items moved.
3. Modus (an Information Technology staffing services company) conducted a survey and Chicago was the number one emerging tech hub.
4. Homicides are down 7%, shootings are down 15%.
There’s probably more but all I had was five minutes to do research.
- Back to the Future - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:30 pm:
JP-You must not be from around here.
I could name a lot more that three things.
Starting with world class institutions of higher learning, top of the rankings medical institutions, an arts and entertainment establishment that compares to any city on the planet, restaurants that compare favorably with any city in the country, one of the world’s leading financial centers and don’t forget our park system.
Throw in the While Sox, that other baseball team, the Bulls, the Blackhawks, professional soccer and the WBA World Champions - -Chicago Illinois has a ton of things going for it.
- Captain Obvious - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:31 pm:
Crime reduced, schools that actually educate kids and prepare them for adulthood, and soldier field returned to it’s former stately glory. Now Willy, pony up with 3 things that are going well.
- Lincoln Lad - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:37 pm:
How many jobs were based at HQ?
- JP Altgeld - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:38 pm:
@Back to the Future
I promise you I have more years here than you and know it better.
I asked for things going well *right now*. Not things that have been historical positives for Chicago.
- Ares - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:39 pm:
Clawbacks (with interest) of all incentives should be required as a condition of any settlement of corporate wrongdoing. Boeing received a slap on the wrist for the 737 crashes and laughed all the way to the bank.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:40 pm:
=== I promise you I have more years here than you and know it better.===
The “I know” rebuttal to anything that counters a want to negativity.
What do you want changed, if you can’t find 3 positive things.
Thanks.
- JP Altgeld - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:46 pm:
@OW
Sure thing.
1. Our leaders to truly devote focus to public safety in a robust fashion - starting with the removal of the CPD Superintendent who was clearly incompetent from week one on.
2. A true commitment to retaining middle class families that are fleeing to suburbs and out of state. This ties to #1. These families are the most important part of Chicago’s social fabric.
3. #1 is so important that I will put it here again.
- JP Altgeld - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:48 pm:
@Da Big Bad Wolf
Are the crime numbers down from last year which was perhaps our most horrendous year in the last 20? We are light years higher than late mid to late 2000’s.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 1:52 pm:
=== 1. Our leaders to truly devote focus to public safety in a robust fashion - starting with the removal of the CPD Superintendent who was clearly incompetent from week one on.===
Personnel is policy, that’s on Lightfoot, as any appointee falls on the leader.
=== 2. A true commitment to retaining middle class families that are fleeing to suburbs and out of state.===
… and yet there’s no big fleeing at all. Chicago added residents in the latest census, if you are talking property taxes, how do you alleviate that when it appears properly values for taxing purposes were, at best, askewed.
=== 3. #1 is so important that I will put it here again.===
So you couldn’t come up with a 3rd.
Firing the police superintendent and property taxes that are already a mess are your two changes… without a 3rd cited?
Well, now I see why Boeing left.
- Da big bad wolf - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:01 pm:
===Are the crime numbers down from last year which was perhaps our most horrendous year in the last 20? We are light years higher than late mid to late 2000’s.===
JP Altgeld, I thought you asked asked for things going well *right now*. Not things that have been historical positives for Chicago.
- MisterJayEm - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:07 pm:
Area Arms Dealer Moves Closer to Pentagon
– MrJM
- Steve - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:16 pm:
This was a business decision for Boeing. It’s important for them to be very close to federal politicians. The good news for Chicago is being in the center of the country is a major draw for many companies who feel they have to have a presence in the Midwest. There will be other companies coming to Chicago because Chicago can compete with California and other high cost places.
- Phineas Gurley - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:17 pm:
The main reason Boeing was in Chicago is that it’s then CEO, Phil Condit, was an opera buff, and could walk across the river to the Lyric. I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did.
- Skeptic - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:41 pm:
“Same thing happening at the large Insurance Offices in Chicagoland” It’s happening at Large Insurance Offices elsewhere too (State Farm e.g.) partly because of the Great Resignation as well as Work From Home. Why rent pricy Loop floor space when the company can have even more space in the employee’s living room for free?
- SpfldWestsider - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:50 pm:
@JP:
Chicago had 943 murders 30 years ago in 1992. Surely you’re not telling me Chicago was better THEN, than now…and I am a child of Chicago, native Southsider. They haven’t gotten within a 100 murders of that total SINCE.
Dude, if it’s SO bad…just do yourself a solid and leave. Pick any Interstate. 55, 57, 80, 88, 90, 94, 290, 294, 355…whatever you’d like. They’ll lead you to your personal land of milk and honey…or whatever you’d call it.
- bored now - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 2:52 pm:
dc version:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2022/05/05/boeing-headquarters-chicago-arlington/
- Brian - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:10 pm:
While I never like to see a company and employees leave Chicago, this move is more about Boeing than it is the city.
- JP Altgeld - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:12 pm:
@OW
Agreed on #1.
On 2:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/12/07/chicago-black-population-decline-523563
On 3:
You make a fair point so allow me to add a proper third bullet.
Addressing the “Manhattan-izing” of Chicago of the have a lots and the have nots. This sort of falls within 2.
- Socially DIstant Watcher - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:14 pm:
@JP: All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
- walker - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:29 pm:
Barabas yes.
Remarkable how many major corporations have become so highly dependent on government revenues in the past twenty years.
- New Day - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 3:32 pm:
Boeing never really became an integral part of the community the way other top corps did. You never really felt their commitment to Chicago. I know the GOP will attempt to make this another “they’re fleeing” stories but it really isn’t about that.
Oh, and does that mean I no longer have to defend the atrocious passenger jet division debacles of the last 20 years? Talk about a company that really screwed up and destroyed its reputation. Goodbye and good riddance.
- Getyup - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:13 pm:
No Wonder Why Boeing Is Dumping Chicago and Illinois’ Crime, Carjacking, Taxes, Hostile Business Climate, And Corruption
- Craig Wright - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:28 pm:
Illinois is healthy. Illinois is healthy. Illinois is healthy. Just keep saying it over and over.
- Demoralized - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:34 pm:
The door is right there @Getyup. Don’t let it hit you on the way out
- Tim - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 4:35 pm:
From the Washington Post article linked above: “In moving to Arlington, Boeing is further asserting itself in the world of national security, with more than half of the $62 billion Boeing generated in 2021 sales coming from military contracts.”
This is it right here–all about being close to the Pentagon, and little or nothing to do with Chicago or Illinois being somehow “unfavorable.”
- Look Closer - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 5:43 pm:
==I’m not surprised. If you’ve followed what has happened since the McDonnell aquisition [sic], the company has been killed and taken over from the inside by a completely different management philosophy==
And what have the insiders said that new philosophy is? Do we think that is happening only at Boeing?
- Tired teacher - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 5:48 pm:
Boeing = carpet baggers.
- Look Closer - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 5:56 pm:
==And what have the insiders said that new philosophy is? Do we think that is happening only at Boeing?==
Hint: software
- 47th Ward - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 6:19 pm:
===Phil Condit, was an opera buff,===
And also a sailor. He tied his boat up on the river outside the office. It was perfect for him.
I said back then, when Boeing’s stated purpose for leaving Seattle was “to be closer to its customers,” that they only made it half way. O’Hare was convenient for a lot of travel, but DC is where their customers really live. I wonder if they can rent space in the Pentagon, to be really close to their customers?
- Pundent - Thursday, May 5, 22 @ 6:39 pm:
Boeing’s reasons for moving to Chicago were dubious at best and we certainly made it worth there while. The rationale was largely tied to the execs that personally benefited. Those folks are now gone and the business, and it’s customer base, are now significantly different.