 The comments from the head of the Peoria-based heavy
equipment maker came on the heels of the company's decision to
bypass Illinois as it looks to build a new plant -- and create 1,400
jobs -- to handle work being relocated from Japan. Quinn also
recently named Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman to an export advisory
council.Quinn -- who touted an improved business climate earlier
this month in his State of the State address -- said he was
disappointed in Oberhelman's comments and that Illinois has enacted
reforms and tax credits to create jobs. He said Caterpillar
officials told him the facility would need ocean access.
"We don't have any oceanfront property in Illinois, so with that
particular facility we weren't in the ballgame to begin with," Quinn
said Sunday at an unrelated news conference. "We met with the
Caterpillar people, and they made it pretty clear that the logistics
would drive the decision."
In a column he wrote for Sunday's Chicago Tribune, Oberhelman
said logistics were a factor. But he also said Illinois needed to do
more for business.
He said Illinois legislators didn't do what was needed to balance
the state budget; credit agencies have downgraded Illinois' bond
rating; and Illinois is among the most expensive states for workers'
compensation rates. He said an internal study by Caterpillar showed
that when factoring in those compensation rates, it was cheaper for
the company to do business in neighboring Indiana, a claim that has
recently been echoed by other companies.
Oberhelman said he wrote a letter to Illinois political leaders
last year outlining many of those problems, which included
complaints about Quinn signing off on an income tax increase in an
attempt to ease the state government's multibillion-dollar budget
shortfall.
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"Illinois must act now, with a bipartisan sense of urgency, to
position itself for future job creation that is being discussed in
boardrooms all across this country," Oberhelman wrote in the column.
Oberhelman noted that Caterpillar hasn't opened a new factory in
Illinois in decades even as it's opened factories elsewhere. Company
officials have said the new factory would likely be built near a
division headquarters in North Carolina.
"Caterpillar is not threatening to leave Illinois," Oberhelman
said. "Rather, we want to grow our presence here. For Illinois to
really compete for new business investment and growth, the state
must address these matters."
Quinn said that while Caterpillar has voiced complaints about
Illinois' economic climate, Chrysler last week announced it was
adding 1,800 workers at its plant in Belvidere. The Democrat said
that since Oberhelman's letter, Illinois has enacted workers'
compensation reform and passed a Caterpillar-backed tax credit for
research and development costs. He also said exports in Illinois are
up.
[Associated Press]
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