Lake County Gazette

Tyson Foods announced it would be relocating its corporate employees in Chicago and Downers Grove – as well as Dakota Dunes, South Dakota – to Springdale, Arkansas. Tyson, the largest meat packing company by sales, did not give specific reasoning for their move.

According to Reuters, Tyson Foods’ decision will relocate about 1,000 corporate employees from its Illinois and South Dakota offices to Arkansas. The corporate giant employs 120,000 nationwide with 114,000 working in production plants.

Reuters reported that Tyson will begin a “phased relocation” of the employees starting early next year. The company believes the move will promote better collaboration and decision-making, as the Tyson family, who founded Tyson Foods, and several top executives have been based in Arkansas for a long time.

Tyson Foods’ decision to move marks the third Fortune 500 company to leave Illinois this year following Boeing, who moved its headquarters to Virginia from Chicago, and Caterpillar moving its headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois to Texas.

“Hyper partisan politicians like Mary Edly-Allen and her allies in Springfield are doing everything they can to make living, working and running a business in Illinois unaffordable,” State Senate candidate Adam Solano told Lake County Gazette. “The Democrat supermajority has raised taxes and imposed burdensome regulations that have skyrocketed everyday people’s cost of living and drastically increased the cost of doing business. That’s why it’s not surprising that yet another large employer is leaving our state, making our state finances and employment more bleak. This is becoming an all too familiar trend and it has to stop. If elected to represent the 31st Senate District in the General Assembly, I’ll propose and support legislation that creates opportunity for Illinois and Lake County workers and fight to keep our jobs here at home.”

Solano is a native to Lake County and has lived in Grayslake since 1996. He began his career in financial services in 1993 and later branded his practice under Lakeside Financial Group. He has continuously served in local professional groups, providing his knowledge to peers in the same profession and mentoring up and comers.

In 2022, Fortune 500 has all three companies ranked within the top 100, Tyson Foods at 81, Caterpillar at 73 and Boeing at 60.

Also leaving Illinois this year was Citadel, the $51 billion hedge fund founded by billionaire Ken Griffin, as previously reported by Reuters. Back in June, Griffin announced the headquarters would be moving to Miami, relocating around 1,000 employees. It was made clear that Florida offered a better business climate and tax incentives. However, executives expressed that crime was also a factor, noting that a Citadel employee was stabbed a block from the office, someone attempted to carjack Griffin’s vehicle and protests occurred outside the Citadel headquarters.

Reuters reported that a spokesperson for Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tyson is "making decisions based on its unique corporate needs" and has planned growth in other parts of the state, such as a plant in Caseyville that will create 250 jobs.