HQ Away from Chicago: Boeing Moves Away from Seattle

Shortly before the turn of the millennium, the Boeing management thought about future strategy. It soon became clear that the company’s headquarters could not remain in Seattle. They were looking for a neutral location not directly connected to one of the group’s main units.

1915 was William Edward Boeing began building an aircraft in Seattle. B&W . seaplane It was born, which was later called the Boeing Model 1. It marked the beginning of its rise to become America’s largest exporter and one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, aerospace technology providers and defense manufacturers.

Dallas/Fort Worth? Denver? Chicago!

To this day, the majority of Boeing commercial aircraft are built in Seattle. And here the group was based until 2001. But as a result of strategic discussions, he decided to move at that time. Southern California, Wichita, Philadelphia, and St. Louis were out of the question because all cities had known manufacturing facilities.

At the same time, the management wanted to find an accessible location and reduce travel times within the group. In the end, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Denver were the choices. The tour chose the city on Lake Michigan. The entire central administration then moved to a high-rise building located directly on the Chicago River.

Many advantages in Arlington

But now it’s time to act again. Boeing decided to leave Chicago again. The global headquarters is moving to Arlington, Virginia. The district makes strategic sense “because it is close to our customers and stakeholders and provides access to first-class engineers and technical talent,” CEO Dave Calhoun comments.

Boeing’s new headquarters in Arlington: A stone’s throw from Washington, DC. Photo: Boeing

Arlington is located across from Washington, DC. Contacts with politics will be easier, and at the same time New York is also not far, where the headquarters of the financial sector is located. Thus Boeing can cover two important groups of election stakeholders. There are also good universities in the area such as Georgetown University, George Washington University, and the University of Maryland.

Also a new research center

At the same time, Boeing is building a research and technology center in Arlington. It will focus on developing innovations in cybersecurity, autonomous operations, quantum science, and software and systems engineering.