Kendall County Times

State Rep. Mark Batnick, R-Plainfield, said that Illinois needs to become more business-friendly.

"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 said on Facebook. " Let's make Illinois the best place to live, work, learn, and raise a family and get our state on a better path forward."     

Chief Executive magazine conducted a survey of about 700 business owners from every state and ranked Illinois 48th, 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 to conduct business.

“We’re too corrupt. 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,” Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski said.                   

 Boeing announced in May that it is relocating its headquarters from Chicago to a suburb of Washington, D.C., NBC Chicago reported. 

“We are excited to build on our foundation here in Northern Virginia," Boeing President and Chief Executive Officer 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 that it is going 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,” Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby said.                  

Billionaire Ken Griffin, formerly the wealthiest Illinois resident, announced that he has moved to Florida, and he's taking hedge fund Citadel and market-maker 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.” 

Griffin is among the 50 wealthiest people in the world, with an estimated worth of $28.9 billion. His is the third announcement of major companies relocating out of Illinois in the past two months. Citadel officials said crime was a factor in Griffin's decision.