http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-11/business/chi-caterpillar-to-add-300-jobs-in-decatur-east-peoria-20111111_1_track-type-east-peoria-caterpillar-chairmanCaterpillar is expecting to add 300 jobs in Illinois as it expands its manufacturing facilities in Decatur and East Peoria to support growing mining industries around the world, the company said Friday.
The company said it will invest $300 million to increase capacity for large mining trucks in Decatur and $340 million in its East Peoria facility to produce large track-type tractors (or bulldozers), also used for mining.
The move is part of a effort to triple the company's large truck capacity and double its track-type tractor above its 2008 capacity. That year, the company announced $1 billion in investments in Illinois facilities that included East Peoria and Decatur. The company expects to complete the Decatur expansion by 2016 and the East Peoria expansion by 2015.
Caterpillar has benefited from a need for commodities to serve a growing middle class in developing nations around the world, where materials used in cellular phones and other devices are increasingly being mined from the earth. More than 90 percent of the large trucks produced in Decatur are exported, as are 80 percent of the large tractors made in East Peoria.
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