Equipment Report

Caterpillar to move global headquarters

Caterpillar Inc. has announced it will locate its global headquarters and a limited group of senior executives and support functions from its current Peoria, Illinois, headquarters to the Chicago area later this year.

According to Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby, Caterpillar’s board of directors has been discussing the benefits of a more accessible, strategic location for some time.

“Since 2012, about two-thirds of Caterpillar’s sales and revenues have come from outside the U.S. Locating our headquarters closer to a global transportation hub such as Chicago means we can meet with our global customers, dealers and employees more easily and frequently,” he says.

Caterpillar will not build the previously announced headquarters complex in Peoria. The current headquarters building will continue to be used for offices.

A limited number of senior executives will move into leased office space in 2017.

Once the new location is fully operational, Caterpillar expects about 300 employees to be based there, which includes some positions relocated from the Peoria area.

Liebherr USA opens Missouri location

Newport News, Virginia-based Liebherr USA Co.’s construction equipment division opened its new Liebherr Equipment Source (LES) retail store in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 2, 2017.

This is the first LES store to open in the state of Missouri. The store supports the construction equipment division’s goals to strengthen its customer support and equipment distribution across the U.S., according to LES.

The LES store will service the general Kansas City market and provide service to the outlying areas of Kansas and Missouri. This additional location will accommodate the customers in the region with a variety of services, including parts and service, in-shop and on-the-road maintenance leasing and sales of Liebherr construction equipment. The facility will include four service bays, a loading dock and two training rooms.

Liebherr has four LES locations: two in Virginia and one each in Maryland and in North Carolina. These locations, including the new site in Missouri, provide only original Liebherr parts when customers require services. This service concept is important to ensure the safest, most reliable, cost-efficient and productive operations for Liebherr customers, the company says.