According to people familiar with the matter quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Boeing, an aviation manufacturing giant, is preparing to move its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington next to the capital. This location also reflects the change of the company's strategy. It is reported that the relevant details have yet to be finalized, and Boeing will announce the matter as soon as next week.
Due to geographical reasons, Arlington was originally the headquarters of many U.S. defense contractors. After Amazon announced that it would set up one of the headquarters of satellite business here three years ago, the local real estate and talent market began to become more and more tight.
According to Virginia officials, Boeing has been negotiating with the state government for months. Although governor Yangjin is unlikely to provide huge financial incentives, he may give some labor-related incentives.
In fact, Boeing's relocation also has business rationality. As early as 2017, the company moved the headquarters of the general fire department to Arlington. Many senior executives of the company have also been more frequent in and out of offices near the capital in recent years to facilitate communication with procurement personnel and parliamentarians of the Pentagon.
Symbolic significance of Boeing moving
It should be noted that this is not the first time in Boeing's history to relocate its headquarters. As early as 2001, the company moved its corporate headquarters from Seattle to the current Chicago. The move also includes the intention to show that the company is "just a commercial aircraft manufacturer". Boeing acquired McDonald Douglas company in 1997 and officially put fighter and other military equipment into the company's product list.
In order to beat Dallas and Denver, Chicago and Illinois have given financial incentives and tax rebates to companies.
This change has also resulted in Boeing's huge geographical distance. Although the management moved to Chicago, the company's main manufacturing base is still in Paget Bay, Washington. At the same time, after that move, the company also moved the production of 787 Dreamliner to Charleston, South Carolina, and the subsequent service department is located in Plano, Texas.