Tyson Foods is the latest company that is leaving crime-ridden Chicago for greener pastures in another state.
The company is relocating its corporate offices from Chicago to the lovely state of Arkansas.
Not only will there be less crime, but probably less taxes too.
Companies such as Boeing, Caterpillar and Citadel have already left Illinois for Virginia, Texas and Florida, respectively.
McDonald’s, which has its headquarters in Chicago, criticized the city for crime. CEO Chris Kempczinski recently said that crime is “seeping into every corner of our city” and he said that he’s frequently asked, “what’s going on in Chicago?”
“We have violent crime that’s happening in our restaurants… we’re seeing homelessness issues in our restaurants. We’re having drug overdoses that are happening in our restaurants,” he said last month at the Economic Club of Chicago. “So, we see in our restaurants, every single day, what’s happening in society at large.”
“While it may wound our civic pride to hear it, there is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis,” Kempczinski said, adding that it is becoming more difficult for the company to recruit promising employees.
The New York Post reports:
Tyson Foods will relocate around 1,000 corporate positions from the Chicago area as well as South Dakota to its headquarters in Springdale, Ark.
One of the world’s largest meat producers said Wednesday that corporate staff at its Chicago and Downers Grove, Ill., locations and Dakota Dunes, SD, office will begin relocating early next year.
The consolidation of corporate offices is intended to allow for closer collaboration and no layoffs will accompany the shift, the company said. Tyson plans to expand and remodel its headquarters in Arkansas.
The parent company of Jimmy Dean and Ball Park products employs about 137,000 workers worldwide. The announcement follows some recent high-profile corporate maneuvers, including naming John Tyson — the great-grandson of the company’s founder — as its chief financial officer.
Chicago has had a number of corporate departures in recent months.
