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Cancer Centers moving HQ from Schaumburg to Florida

Cancer Treatment Centers of America will move its corporate headquarters from Schaumburg to Florida by mid-2015.

The firm and Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued a news release saying Cancer Treatment Centers decided to move to Boca Raton, Fla., based on several factors, including an undisclosed incentive from Florida officials.

“Florida's favorable business climate, coupled with the quality of life offered to residents, proximity to emerging markets in Latin America, and transportation access via multiple international airports, factored heavily in the company's decision,” Pamela Browner White, CTCA vice president of public affairs said.

The news release didn't specify what kinds of incentives were offered and Browner White would not provide that figure.

Florida government spokesman Sean Helton said economic incentive agreements are kept secret by state statute.

Dave Roeder, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, would not say how much Illinois offered Cancer Treatment Centers to stay.

“We worked aggressively over the last several weeks on this and provided two incentives offers predicated on retaining about 600 employees in Schaumburg and Zion, but they decided to go to Florida instead,” Roeder said.

The privately held Cancer Treatment Centers, which informed its workers last Friday, has about 225 employees in Schaumburg. It's unclear how many of them will make the move, which will happen in two phases. One will involve the relocation of the senior leadership and their teams by July. The rest is expected to be completed by July 2015. Some hiring is possible in Florida, said Browner White.

Browner White said the firm also will continue its plan to expand its Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Zion with a multimillion-dollar project expected to be completed next year. The Zion facility has a workforce of about 1,200.

The company operates a network of five hospitals nationwide, including Zion.

“We would also like to emphasize that we have a special relationship with the state of Illinois, having been founded here 25 years ago,” said Browner White. “The expansion of our hospital in Zion underscores our continued commitment to offering patients world-class cancer care in the state of Illinois and to the city of Zion, Illinois, where we are the largest employer.”

Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said he and other village officials had heard rumors of the firm's departure but company representatives never returned village phone calls to discuss it.

“But we have many more companies moving into Schaumburg than moving out,” Larson said.

The move by Cancer Treatment Centers follows another high-profile move to Florida.

In December, Office Depot Inc. said its newly formed company will put its headquarters in Boca Raton, Fla., and not at the existing OfficeMax offices in Naperville. The move impacts 1,600 local workers.

Ÿ Associated Press contributed to this report.

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