Starbucks, Nashville and the new corporate geography

starbucks moved its global headquarters from seattle to a new campus in nashville this year. the coffee chain joins a growing list of big us companies that are splitting up their corporate operations rather than keeping everything under one roof. nashville got the corporate center while seattle kept the roasting plants and some support functions. the logic is cost and talent. nashville is cheaper than seattle and has a growing pool of white-collar workers. starbucks isn't alone — boeing moved its hq to arlington, virginia, while keeping its commercial airplane factories in washington state. caterpillar shifted its headquarters from peoria to irving, texas, while maintaining manufacturing in illinois. the unbundling lets companies put executives near investors and policymakers while keeping factories where labor and logistics make sense. for cities like nashville, it means a sudden influx of corporate tax revenue and high-end jobs. for seattle, it's a quieter loss of prestige and a smaller corporate tax base.