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 Boeing, Caterpillar and now the $50-billion hedge fund, Citadel,
all within two months said they were moving their headquarters out of Illinois.
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin announced to employees June 23 the firm’s headquarters
is leaving Chicago for Miami after 30 years. Griffin, Illinois’ wealthiest
resident, is picking Florida for its better corporate environment.
Citadel will retain its Chicago office and employees, but many will transition
out of Illinois in the next year. Griffin has moved, and said he didn’t make the
business decision on his own: His employees asked to work elsewhere.
“Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our
colleagues have deep ties to Illinois,” Griffin wrote. “Over the past year,
however, many of our Chicago teams have asked to relocate to Miami, New York and
our other offices around the world.”
While he has multiple issues with how Illinois treats its
corporate citizens, he also in April said he was bothered by Chicago’s inability
to control crime.
“If people aren’t safe here, they’re not going to live here,”
Griffin said. “I’ve had multiple colleagues mugged at gunpoint. I’ve had a
colleague stabbed on the way to work. Countless issues of burglary. I mean,
that’s a really difficult backdrop with which to draw talent to your city from.”
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CNBC ranks Illinois as the third-least friendly state to
businesses. The Tax Foundation found Illinois’ business climate declined 10
spots in the past five years – the only state to drop in the Midwest. Gov. J.B.
Pritzker added $5.2 billion in new taxes on Illinoisans, specifically targeting
businesses with $650 million in new taxes amid a pandemic recovery.
Three Fortune 500 companies leaving the state in two months is a
dismal sign for jobs growth. Only lawmakers can make Illinois’ business climate
more competitive to attract new residents. Companies follow the talent wherever
it goes, and it’s leaving Illinois: a record 114,000 residents lost in 2021
alone.
Jobs and house values – both tied to Illinois’ nation-leading state and local
tax burden – are prompting people to leave. Rather than fix those issues, state
leaders handed Illinoisans a proposal to give public worker unions the
protection of the Illinois Constitution. Amendment 1, masquerading as a “workers
rights amendment,” would guarantee a $2,100 property tax hike for the typical
Illinois homeowner were voters to approve it Nov. 8.
Higher property taxes for their employees is not what will stop a fourth big
business from exiting Illinois.
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