Illinois to benefit from CAT strategy Caterpillar announced

Thursday not only a big new bulldozer contract with the U.S. Army but a billion-dollar infusion in its Illinois manufacturing plants, including those in East Peoria and Mossville. It is the largest local investment by Caterpillar in more than two decades, since it launched its $1.8 billion Plants With A Future global modernization program in 1987. Plants in Joliet, Decatur and Aurora also will see improvements. Cat additionally unveiled a change in strategy, as it's getting out of what it considers an iffy on-road truck engine business. Even though such engines are only about 10 percent of Cat's business, it's a gamble after investing so much in its higher-efficiency, lower-emission, diesel engine technology - called ACERT (Advanced Combustion Engine Reduction Technology) - over the last decade. ACERT remains crucial to the company's off-road vehicle lines. Tootoo.com feels that local residents of Central Illinois should feel pretty comfortable with these moves, for several reasons. First and foremost, by reinvesting in local plants to make them "first class ... globally competitive," Cat is positioning itself for a future that very much includes central Illinois. Second, all things considered Cat's crystal ball has been pretty clear these past 20 years, as its business decisions have paid off in ways they haven't for other U.S. manufacturers. That has protected jobs, long-term. Don't believe us. Ask employees at the likes of Ford and General Motors if they'd like to trade places. Third, the locals sometimes forget that Caterpillar's economic influence here extends well beyond its direct impact. Its area suppliers can now look to the future with greater confidence, which could mean spin-off that is "a multiple of that billion dollars," said Oberhelman. To the degree these investments and transformations solidify Cat's presence in central Illinois, they are certainly worth celebrating.