Virginia cheers, Illinois jeers Boeing move

Boeing’s Thursday announcement that it would be moving its headquarters from Chicago to Arlington, Va., upset Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin (D) and Tammy Duckworth (D), while it was welcomed by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner (D).

“Boeing’s decision to leave Illinois is incredibly disappointing—every level of government in our state has worked to make Chicago and Illinois the perfect home for Boeing’s headquarters for the past 20 years,” Duckworth and Durbin said in a joint statement. 

“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.”

Warner, however, celebrated the move for his state, saying he had been involved in efforts to lobby the aerospace company to move to Virginia.

“For well over a year, I’ve been making my case to Boeing senior leadership that Virginia would be a great place for its headquarters, and late last year, I was happy to learn that my efforts were successful,” Warner said in a statement. 

“As the former Governor of Virginia, I was proud to secure Virginia’s standing as the best state for business and the best-managed state, among other honors, and I’ve been proud to work in my role as Senator to help continue to cultivate the kind of pro-business environment that world-class companies like Boeing need to grow and thrive,” he added.

Boeing earlier announced that it would be moving its headquarters to Arlington and establishing a research and technology hub in Northern Virginia. That announcement followed The Wall Street Journal’s initial reporting of Boeing’s anticipated move.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun indicated in a statement on the announcement that Warner and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) had both been involved in the matter.

A Virginia state official told The Hill ahead of Boeing’s announcement that Youngkin had a personal relationship with Calhoun because of their overlap in the business world, and that there had been several months of communication over it.

That official also confirmed that there would be state incentives involved.