AP – Boeing Co said it will move its headquarters from Chicago to the Washington, DC area, where company executives would be closer to key federal government officials.
The company said it will use its campus in Arlington, Virginia, as its new headquarters, and it plans to develop a research and technology hub in the area.
“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 David Calhoun said.
The move marks a win for Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who campaigned last year on a promise to bring new businesses and jobs to the state.
“The decision to call Virginia home shows that the Commonwealth is the premier location for aerospace companies,” Youngkin said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Boeing to attract even more talent to Virginia especially given its reputation for engineering excellence.”
Youngkin retired in 2020 as co-chief of private equity giant the Carlyle Group. He was personally involved in discussions about the move and had a prior business relationship with Calhoun, who also was an executive in the investment industry, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorised to discuss the negotiations publicly.
A spokeswoman for Virginia’s economic development agency said the project will not receive any state incentives, nor will it receive any from Arlington County, a spokeswoman there said.
Boeing is a major defence contractor, and the move will put executives close to Pentagon leaders. Rival defence contractors including General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are already based in the DC area.
