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| Caterpillar plant, Peoria Heights, Illinois |
From Jake Novak of CNBC:
I guess there really is a difference in political parties after all!I doubt it too.
Caterpillar announced today that it's staying in Peoria, Illinois and even expanding its corporate headquarters in the city.
CEO Doug Oberhelman made the statement with Illinois' new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner beaming by his side. Remember it was Oberhelman who openly speculated about moving CAT out of Illinois under the previous Governor, Democrat Pat Quinn. Had Quinn, famous for jacking up state taxes in the middle of the slow recovery, been re-elected over Rauner, I doubt we would seen an event today like we did in Peoria.
3 comments:
Really?
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- The CEO of Peoria-based Caterpillar Inc. said Wednesday a letter he wrote to Gov. Pat Quinn complaining about the state's business climate was never intended as a threat to move the Fortune 500 manufacturer's headquarters out of Illinois.
In the letter, Lee Enterprises' Springfield bureau reported, Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman told Quinn: "I want to stay here. But as the leader of this business, I have to do what's right for Caterpillar when making decisions about where to invest."
In his speech Wednesday in Washington to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Oberhelman said news reports sensationalized his statements about the state's business climate.
"The headlines were sensational -- they said things like, "'Cat leaving Illinois,' which isn't what the letter said," according to a copy of the speech. "I actually said I'm looking forward to finding ways to invest more in Illinois."
A spokeswoman for Quinn said the governor took Oberhelman's letter as an offer to work with the state.
"We always understood the content and intent of Caterpillar's letter, and appreciate the importance of Mr. Oberhelman reaching out to us," Brie Callahan said. "We've said since Friday that the Governor welcomes frank and open discussions with the business community."
David Mercer Associated Press 3-31-2011
That was four years ago.
True, four years ago Oberhelman DID NOT OPENLY SPECULATE ON LEAVING ILLINOIS. THAT IS WHEN THAT THREAT DID NOT OCCUR.
Subsequent to that time, all the work to expand Cat's operations in Illinois was done. Nice job taking credit, though!
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