About 1,200 employees of ConAgra’s corporate office in Omaha will remain there when the company moves its headquarters to Chicago.
ConAgra announced Thursday that 1,500 jobs will be cut from its global workforce. More than 1,000 of those will be in Omaha. 300 employees will be relocated to Chicago.
Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert and Governor Pete Ricketts both met with ConAgra’s CEO, who communicated to them that tax incentives wouldn’t have kept the company’s headquarters here.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says shareholders should question whether the move is in the company’s best interest short and long-term. The CEO of ConAgra lives in Chicago.
Goss says ConAgra’s moves are bad news for an area already beginning to see economic difficulties. And he says the job cuts could trickle down in to other areas. Goss says business and government leaders should focus on Omaha’s long-term economic outlook, fundamentals, and transportation.
ConAgra has been based in Omaha since 1922 and moved to its downtown headquarters in 1990.