Quinn: Caterpillar decision about port access

And Caterpillar itself, he said, recently announced plans to invest more than $800 million at existing plants in Eats Peoria and Decatur.

Those plans, though, don't compare to the investment in or potential of new facilities, Dugan said. Oberhelman has said the company will likely announce new projects in the next few years, and the email to Illinois communities this week urged them to help push the state toward changes that would help them compete for future projects.

"We have a lot of existing facilities and we continue to invest in those," Dugan said. "But it's kind of investing to maintain a facility, which is not insignificant, but not growing a new facility and adding bricks and mortar."

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