Foreseeable Changes

So, during the twelve years that we lived in Peoria I think we always had it in the back of our minds that my job might take us to a different location. When the opportunity arose to move to Aurora to join the newly formed Mining Shovel group, we felt like formation of that new product group would ensure we'd be in Northern Illinois for a number of years. Sadly, that stay turned out to be only a few months before a strange set of circumstances caused the group to be dissolved and we had to begin looking for another spot to land. We found our spot here in Monticello. Halfway between my new job in Decatur and the university scene in Champaign, with excellent schools and a welcoming community, Monticello has been everything you could ask for in a small town. So with stability in the Large Truck product line and a bit of room to grow in my new group our foreseeable future seemed pretty well defined.

Until last week.

We've known for a few months that our (very) large and relatively scattered division has been considering a centralized location to consolidate the support and engineering groups for the products that fall under its umbrella. That location was going to be in one of four southwestern cities, with the selection process ongoing. Last week it was announced that the new regional headquarters, and our new home, would be in Tucson, Arizona.

We've got very mixed feelings.

On the one hand we're excited for a new adventure. We'll be closer to our families and I'm sure will come to value new friends as much was we've grown to love our friends here. But we will have to leave Monticello. And Illinois. Bummer.

The city of Tucson and the state of Arizona seem to be fairly excited: link

Moving 600 jobs doesn't happen overnight of course, and we're still somewhat in the planning phases with individual conversations about if and when and how. The transition will continue for a number of years, but it looks like our group will likely be one of the first to go. Right now the best estimate we have is summer of 2017.

So, one more very busy year here before saying our goodbye's. I've got a lump in my throat already.