Will County Gazette

State Rep. Mark Batinick (R-Plainfield) recently said that Illinois needs to become more business-friendly in order to strengthen the state's economy. 

"Illinois has all the resources to become a powerhouse for population and economic growth, but we have to implement business-friendly policies that encourage investment here at home," Batnick wrote in an Aug. 16 Facebook post. "Let's make Illinois the best place to live, work, learn, and raise a family and get our state on a better path forward."

Earlier this year, Chief Executive Magazine conducted a survey of about 700 business owners from every state on the best states for business, and they ranked Illinois 48th overall, meaning it is the third-worst state in the country for business, The Center Square reported. Only California and New York were ranked worse than Illinois. Texas, Florida, and Tennessee were ranked as the top states for doing business.

“We’re too corrupt,” Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski told The Center Square. “Our taxes are way too high. We have way too many regulations, and we have massive debts, and that is plenty of reason enough for companies to not want to locate in Illinois, not to mention the state is shrinking in population so it's not a growth state to put your business in.”

Boeing announced in May that it will relocate its headquarters from Chicago to a suburb of Washington, NBC 5 reported.

“We are excited to build on our foundation here in Northern Virginia," Boeing President and CEO, Dave Calhoun, said in a statement. "The region makes strategic sense for our global headquarters given its proximity to our customers and stakeholders, and its access to world-class engineering and technical talent."

Caterpillar announced June 14 its plans to relocate its headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois, to Irving, Texas, according to a press release.

“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,” Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said in the release.

Ken Griffin announced he was moving to Florida and taking hedge fund giant Citadel, and Citadel Securities with him, Market Watch reported.

“Chicago will continue to be important to the future of Citadel, as many of our colleagues have deep ties to Illinois,” Griffin wrote in a letter to employees. “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.”

Citadel officials cited Chicago's high crime rate as a factor in Griffin's decision.