Rock Island Today

Republican candidate for Illinois governor, Darren Bailey, who has pledged to restore the state's economy if elected gives insight on businesses leaving the state.

Bailey opined following Illinois headlined Wall Street Journal about three giant companies exiting the state.

"Rock Island and Moline residents know all too well the difference between the business environment in Illinois versus the business environment in Iowa," Bailey said. "Businesses in those communities are relocating to Iowa and leaving Illinois behind. The outmigration from Illinois is something border communities see firsthand. The reason people are leaving is because of our state’s hostile business environment. The result is job loss and population loss. JB 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. JB 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."

The closing of important business sites was summed up in a 7-minute film made by The Wall Street Journal. 

“After years of operating in Illinois, three major companies—Boeing, Caterpillar and Citadel—are moving their headquarters out of the state,” the Wall Street Journal said in its preview of the video. 

Fortune 500 company, Boeing, also the most well-known producer of aircraft announced that it would exit the region beginning in May, NBC 5 Chicago reported. In 2001, the vast aerospace industry, which started in Washington, moved to Chicago. Chicago bested Dallas—Fort Worth, and Denver, among the choices back then. Boeing needed to let go over 10% of its workforce or has approximately lost more than 16,000 jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just a little over two months ago, another Fortune 500 company declared that Irving, Texas, will become the new location of its corporate headquarters. Caterpillar's chairman and CEO, Jim Umpleby, stated that the decision was made with the company's "strategic interest" in mind. According to Caterpillar, there would be no impact on the 230 employees at the corporate headquarters, according to Chicago Tribune. 

Billionaire Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities asserts that moving from Chicago to Miami was motivated in large part by worries about security. 

“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.”