Boeing moves HQ to Virginia, dumps Democrat-run Chicago

Aerospace manufacturer and defense contracting giant Boeing announced Thursday that it would abandon its Chicago headquarters and move to Arlington, Va.

"We are excited to build on our foundation here in Northern Virginia. 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," Boeing CEO and President Dave Calhoun said of the move.

The firm's new Arlington headquarters would put in close proximity to Washington, D.C., and, consequentially, some of the largest customers of the defense contractor.

Illinois politicians were predictably sour on the decision. The state's two Democratic Senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, called the move "incredibly disappointing," per the Epoch Times. “We are working together to ensure Boeing leadership both understands how harmful this move will be and does everything possible to protect Illinois’s workers and jobs,” they continued.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, whose tenure has seen a marked rise in violent crime in Chicago, emphasized that the company intended to keep some of its business in the city. She further asserted that Chicago would remain "a major hub for global corporations that recognize our diverse workforce, expansive infrastructure, and thriving economy."

Along with the new headquarters, Boeing announced its plan to open a research and development hub in the area. "The hub will focus on developing innovations in the areas of cyber security, autonomous operations, quantum sciences and software and systems engineering," the company said in a press release.