“can someone explain to me why Caterpillar holds their stockholder and analyst meetings in Chicago and not Peoria?”

This isn’t unusual; many public companies hold their meetings in not-hometown. It’s an issue of transit, of media attention (many more newspapers will send coverage to Chicago than Peoria), of analyst time (some of these dudes are at these things CONSTANTLY and if they have to leave town to get to them — or take a connecting flight — that won’t happen), of convenience, etc. They’re also a non-stop extravaganza for the executives involved, who sometimes feel like their entire year is eaten up by SEC filings, NYSE filings, shareholder meetings, etc. Even a lot of suburban firms just go downtown for the day so they can get in, get out, and go home with the least amount of hassle.

Some places hold their meetings on-site (or near-site) when it’s a special anniversary year. And sometimes a company in Chicago might hold its meeting in, say, New York or LA for logisitical reasons. (Smaller companies, especially privately-held ones, I’ve noticed, often use shareholder meetings as an excuse to visit vacation destinations.) Kraft Foods, for example, is HQ’d in Northfield, IL, (20 miles outside the Loop, and allegedly built on a graveyard) and held their 2007 shareholder meeting in East Hanover, NJ.

It’s probably not really a snub to Peoria, it’s probably a, “Let’s get this the hell over with with the least amount of pain possible,” from Cat corporate.

Also, Cat is not a sexy company. Analysts may be willing to haul ass to Mountain View for Google, because Google is sexy and now. Earth-movers are not sexy. (And that’s a criticism of the analysts, not the company. Non-sexy companies are longer-term strong performers than sexy ones.)