Quinn says he'll talk to Sears about staying put
Responding to concerns that Sears Holdings Corp. is considering leaving Illinois when tax incentives run out next year, Gov. Pat Quinn said he'll look to negotiate a future deal with company executives to stay in Hoffman Estates.
“Sears has been an Illinois company for decades,” Quinn said at a news conference today.
Quinn said he has met with Sears officials in recent months.
The company is nearing the end of a 23-year tax incentive package that helped convince the company to move to Hoffman Estates when it left the iconic former Sears Tower, now Willis Tower, in Chicago.
Now, Sears officials are reportedly talking with other states as the Illinois deal is set to expire in 2012.
“I know how to work with the big businesses,” Quinn said, referring to news last week that Motorola Mobility would stay in Libertyville with the help of $100 million in credits from the state. The company also was reportedly investigating sites elsewhere.
Quinn sought to sound a confident tone in Chicago, saying he'd work with Sears officials to try to strike a deal that would work well for both taxpayers and the company.
“We'll be thinking about how to look at the future,” he said.
Rep. Fred Crespo, a Hoffman Estates Democrat, has legislation pending in Springfield that would extend Sears' deal 15 years in exchange for the company maintaining a certain number of employees locally. The legislation hasn't yet received a vote, though, despite being filed in February.