Four years after moving its corporate headquarters from Peoria to Deerfield, Illinois, Caterpillar is moving again – this time to Texas.

The company announced June 14 that it will relocate its global headquarters to one of its offices in Irving in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.Its headquarters will be leaving a state where it has been based since the Caterpillar Tractor Company was formed in 1925 and moved its headquarters from California to Peoria.

The company moved its headquarters to Deerfield in 2018 from Peoria. The company also has manufacturing plants throughout the state, which are not part of this announcement.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker released a statement following Caterpillar’s brief announcement:"It’s disappointing to see Caterpillar move their 240 headquarters employees out of Deerfield over the next several years when so many companies are coming in. We will continue to support the 17,400 Illinoisans who work for the company in East Peoria, Mapleton, Mossville, Pontiac and Decatur – which remains Caterpillar’s largest manufacturing plant in North America after the company’s recent expansion."

Caterpillar plans to start the move this year. “We believe it’s in the best strategic interest of the company to make this move, which supports Caterpillar’s strategy for profitable growth as we help our customers build a better, more sustainable world,” said Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby.

The current home of Caterpillar's corporate headquarters in Deerfield, Illinois, will soon be vacated for a move to Irving, Texas

Caterpillar, the world’s largest construction equipment maker has had a presence in Texas since the 1960s, the company says. It added in a news release that Illinois still holds the largest concentration of its employees worldwide.

In 2017, Caterpillar shocked Peoria with the news it would move to Deerfield, a suburb of Chicago. The company and its predecessor have built equipment, starting with crawler tractors, in Peoria for 112 years.

Global headquarters moved to Corporate 500 office park in mid-2018 where it has leased space. At the time, the company cited the location’s proximity to downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport, as well as quick access to major interstates and the area’s commuter rail system.  

It was also cited as a place that would help the company attract the best, diverse talent.

Earlier this year, Caterpillar moved its Electric Power division, which makes generators, to Irving, where it consolidated leadership and support teams. “This location is home to a highly skilled workforce and provides global access to our customers and dealers with centralized proximity to DFW and Love Field airports,” said Jason Kaiser, the division’s vice president, in announcing that move.

Caterpillar’s announced move out of the Chicago area comes a month after Boeing announced it was moving its headquarters out of Chicago.

The move to Irving is designed to help the company attract new talent and improve global access to its employees, customers and dealer network, according to Bloomberg News, quoting an email from Caterpillar spokeswoman Kate Kenny. “We believe being in the Dallas Fort-Worth market will give us the ability to attract new talent and provide additional career opportunities for our current employees to aid in retention,” Kenny wrote in an email to the news outlet.

The company will begin transitioning its headquarters to Irving in 2022.