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Quinn gives “permission” for company to move thousands of jobs from Libertyville to Chicago

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* You may have read that Motorola Mobility is moving its corporate headquarters from Libertyville to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart…

Motorola Mobility will move its Libertyville headquarters — and 3,000 workers — to downtown Chicago, taking the top four floors and rooftop of the Merchandise Mart and becoming the landmark building’s largest tenant with 600,000 square feet, Motorola Mobility CEO Dennis Woodside and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday. […]

Gov. Pat Quinn said at a news conference in Deerfield that he gave Google “permission” to move from Libertyville to downtown Chicago, since that was the location Google preferred.

* This is why he apparently had to give permission…

In 2011, after considering a headquarters move to California or Texas, Motorola Mobility struck an agreement with the state to maintain a local workforce of 2,500 in exchange for more than $100 million in tax credits over 10 years. That agreement remained in place after the Google acquisition.

* More from Gov. Quinn…

“I told their CEO we expect them to work very hard here in Lake County (and) Libertyville to help all those people who are working for Motorola now be able to get down to their jobs in downtown Chicago and if they have to use extra transportation to do it, so be it. And we also want to make sure we work with Libertyville and Lake County to get a new company to replace Motorola on their campus here in Lake County. It’s a very good place to do business,” Quinn said, pointing to companies like Abbott Laboratories near North Chicago and Baxter Healthcare in Deerfield.

He said he wants to make sure Lake County continues to thrive economically.

“But the bottom line is we want to keep the jobs in Illinois,” Quinn said. “It’s important to have good technology jobs in Illinois that spawn other jobs for many, many different people. The pairing of Google and Motorola Mobility, I think, will be one that will hopefully create jobs for many people for years to come.”

* But Rep. Ed Sullivan, who represents Libertyville, is not a happy camper…

State Rep. Ed Sullivan, a Mundelein Republican, complained that Quinn, a Democrat, didn’t tell local leaders in advance about the move and said Quinn was “placating Chicago at the expense of the suburbs.”

“The governor was very quick to ask for help passing the incentive package to keep Motorola in Illinois,” Sullivan said, “but was nowhere to be heard of when he stabbed Libertyville in the back.”

* Sullivan also noted the “irony” of the House roll call on the Motorola Mobility tax incentive…

Twenty people voted against the tax breaks. At least 16 are lawmakers from Cook County.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 11:42 am

Comments

Rich, the Trib reports that the Great subpoenaed Howard’s récords July 18.

Comment by Chief Illiniwek Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 12:01 pm
Has goog actually used those credits yet? I seem to remember a discussion that they had not when they laid off people in 2011.

Goog got some 2.4 billion in tax credits when theybought MMI..

They might not need the 100 million. And where can one find this agreement between the state andgoog?

Comment by Pat collins Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 12:25 pm
Hmmmm, did anyone check with the CEO to find out if he was for or against gay marriage? Just wondering,,,

Comment by Holdingontomywallet Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 1:40 pm
Motorala Mobility is a disaster and probably won’t be in business in the near future.

But they have some very valuable patents and the vultures are hovering to pick them clean.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 2:15 pm
I’d feel much better about this deal if Chicago was poaching them from Indiana instead of one of our own suburbs.

Comment by Bluefish Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 2:49 pm
I agree, word. Hope young Kennedy didn’t sign a long term lease.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Jul 27, 12 @ 3:20 pm