MillerCoors Chooses Chicago
The combined MillerCoors company chose Chicago for his corporate headquarters over Milwaukee and Denver:
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.
Access to transportation and the ability to hire marketing talent were reasons for the decision along with not making it appear that either Miller or Coors won in the joint venture.
On the positive side for Milwaukee the Miller brewery will see more beer made. Coors Light production will increase capacity by 55%.
“MillerCoors Headquarters to Be in Chicago”