Oregon drive-thru chain Dutch Bros plans to move some of its corporate functions from its headquarters in Grants Pass to an office near Phoenix, Arizona, closer to its fastest-growing markets in the southern and southwestern United States.

Dutch Bros’ headquarters will remain in Southern Oregon, but the company’s new CEO, Christine Barone, will live in Arizona. That’s where she worked before Dutch Bros hired her last year.

Dutch Bros said it will shift 40% of its support staff to Phoenix, relocating some positions from Oregon and hiring in Arizona to fill other positions.

Dutch Bros said it hasn’t determined just how many jobs will move to Arizona and cannot be more specific because it’s in a regulatory quiet period before the release of its fourth-quarter financial results. But Barone said Wednesday it’s a “small number” of positions moving.

“Grants Pass is always going to be home. Our roasting plant is here. We’ll have offices here. A large portion of our people are going to stay here,” said Travis Boersma, Dutch Bros’ founder and chairman. He said he will continue living in Grants Pass and still considers Dutch Bros an Oregon company.

However, Barone and Boersma said that it’s important to have more corporate support closer to its shops. Dutch Bros often operates in suburbs and small towns, and Barone said Phoenix offers far more direct flights to airports close to the communities where it operates than Medford does.

The company notified employees of the change Tuesday and announced it publicly Wednesday afternoon.

“People are still processing. Everyone appreciates the transparency,” Barone said. She said Dutch Bros is trying to de-emphasize its headquarters designation and focus more on offices that support staff working in its drive-thrus, now spread across the country.

Dutch Bros has finished last year with 831 shops in 16 states. It’s expanding rapidly in Texas and Oklahoma, with plans to push into Florida and expects to have nearly 1,000 locations by the end of 2024.

“There’s only a natural need for leadership and presence to support those shops in different states as we grow,” Boersma said Wednesday.

From a single coffee pushcart in Grants Pass that opened in 1992, Dutch Bros has grown into one of Oregon’s largest businesses. It raised $550 million in its 2021 initial public offering, the biggest IPO in state history, and has a market value of $5 billion.

The company is an economic pillar in Grants Pass, a city of 40,000 residents 30 miles west of Medford. Dana Pearce, the city’s economic development manager, said officials are aware that Dutch Bros is moving some operations to Arizona but don’t consider it a major setback.

“I don’t think we’ve had any real concerns. We expect the headquarters to remain here,” Pearce said. “We still expect them to remain a strong community partner.”

Dutch Bros is known for its frothy, colorful, caffeinated coffee and energy drinks and for the cheerful “broistas” who make its beverages.

The company hopes to grow to 4,000 drive-thrus eventually and is overhauling its executive team in pursuit of that goal. In addition to Barone, a former Starbucks executive whom Dutch Bros hired last year, the company has recently named a new chief financial officer, a new president of operations and a new chief people officer.

Oregon has a long history of losing large companies to other states, usually through acquisitions by larger businesses but sometimes when corporate headquarters move out of state. That’s what happened with U.S. Bancorp, window manufacturer Jeld-Wen and timber giant Louisiana-Pacific, among others.

But Boersma said that’s not what’s happening to his business. The new Arizona office reflects the needs of a growing operation, he said, but Grants Pass remains central to Dutch Bros’ identity.

“That’s pretty important to the organization, and I don’t see that unwinding at all,” Boersma said.