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MillerCoors headquarters to be in Chicago(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 15--MillerCoors LLC is putting its corporate headquarters in Chicago -- not Milwaukee or the Denver area. That word comes today from MillerCoors President Tom Long. He said executives of the 50-50 joint venture, formed July 1 by combining Miller Brewing Co. and Coors Brewing Co., decided it was important to have a "neutral site" for the headquarters -- confirming comments that MillerCoors chairman Pete Coors made in February. It would have been "too difficult" to choose either Milwaukee or the Denver area as the MillerCoors headquarters location, Long told the Journal Sentinel. Such a choice would have "communicated so powerfully that one system took over the other," Long said. "We came to the conclusion that we did need a neutral third place." The headquarters will be bigger than initially expected, with 300 to 400 jobs, when it opens next summer, Long said. In addition to Long and other top executives, the downtown Chicago headquarters will include the MillerCoors marketing organization, with over 200 employees, and some sales and sales support employees. That includes 150 to 175 jobs that will be pulled from Milwaukee, where the former Miller headquarters complex on Highland Blvd. has around 900 employees. Another 150 to 175 Chicago positions will be drawn from Golden, Colo., where Coors was based. Decisions will be made in the coming months on cutting additional office and administrative positions in both Milwaukee and Golden. Long said MillerCoors will maintain a significant office presence in Milwaukee, where the joint venture's eastern division is based. Also, the Milwaukee brewery, with 800 employees, will add jobs as it expands to produce Coors Light and other brands formerly owned by Coors Brewing, Long said. The Milwaukee brewery's capacity will increase by around 55% over the next three years as MillerCoors pours $50 million worth of improvements into the State St. complex, Long said. Coors Light, the nation's third-largest brand, was made at just two breweries that Coors Brewing operated in Elkton, Va., and Golden. By spreading production to additional breweries, MillerCoors executives expect to see a large savings in shipping costs for Coors Light. Long and other MillerCoors executives have said the company expects to save $500 million annually. Of that amount, $170 million to $200 million is expected to come from lower shipping costs for the joint venture's brands, Long said. In addition to being a neutral site, Chicago presents a more attractive location than either Milwaukee or Denver for the marketing talent that MillerCoors needs to be successful, Long said. Chicago also boasts O'Hare International Airport, the world's second busiest airport. O'Hare offers global air connections, an important consideration for a company that is partly owned by London-based SABMiller. Long said those factors outweighed the higher cost of doing business in downtown Chicago, where a specific site for the headquarters has not yet been disclosed. He said taxes were not a deciding factor in evaluating headquarters sites, which included Dallas as a finalist. Illinois has a corporate tax rate of 7.3%, according to the Federation of Tax Administrators. That compares with 7.9% in Wisconsin, 4.63% in Colorado and 0.5% to 1% in Texas. "I think Milwaukee is a great place to do business," Long said. "This doesn't reflect in any way on the city of Milwaukee or the state of Wisconsin." To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |