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February 24, 2017

As businesses move to big cities, company towns seek new identities

By SARA BURNETT
Associated Press

PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis planned to open this year's State of the City speech by thanking Caterpillar Inc. for its longtime commitment to the central Illinois town, declaring “We wouldn't be Peoria without Caterpillar.”

It's been that way for decades in Peoria and in other company towns across the United States. A major employer provided generations of locals with jobs and gave the cities a central identity, while executives helped keep cultural institutions, Rotary clubs and higher-end housing markets healthy.


 
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