Lake County’s strongest economic years aren’t happening by accident—they’re the result of deliberate investments in talent, housing, infrastructure, and partnerships that position the community for long-term growth. Lake County Partners is building this foundation for competitiveness by advancing many of the priorities identified in Lake County’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). Through initiatives focused on these priorities, and leveraging cross-sector collaboration, LCP is taking a proactive approach to strengthening Chicagoland’s economic future.
By convening municipalities, employers, educational institutions, developers, and community organizations around shared goals, LCP ensures that Lake County remains economically resilient, talent-ready, and positioned for sustainable growth. These efforts not only support today’s business climate, but also create the conditions necessary for future investment, opportunity, and high quality of life across the county. Here’s a broad look at three overarching initiatives that achieve these aims:
Fueling Housing Growth
In order for Lake County to attract and retain both talent and businesses, it must have more available housing, including a diversity of housing types that provide options for households at different life stages, ages, incomes, and sizes. Our 2023 Housing Study showed that by 2027, Lake County will be short over 11,000 market rate homes, and 7,000 income qualified affordable homes.
LCP is taking a proactive approach to fueling housing growth by supporting several initiatives, including Housing Lake, which convened more than 175 stakeholders — including municipalities, developers, employers, and nonprofits — to create a collaborative roadmap for expanding attainable housing across Lake County.
Building on that effort, LCP also hosted a multifamily networking session that brought municipal leaders together with developers to discuss ready-to-build sites and accelerate real development opportunities. By breaking down silos, fostering public-private partnerships, and aligning housing development with workforce and economic needs, LCP is helping create the conditions for sustainable growth, stronger talent attraction, and long-term regional competitiveness.
Lake County is making significant progress in addressing its housing needs through an unprecedented wave of residential development activity across the community. Municipalities are advancing a diverse mix of projects, including multifamily developments, workforce housing, affordable housing, senior living communities, and mixed-use neighborhoods that expand housing choices for residents at all stages of life.
These projects reflect a growing recognition among local leaders that increasing housing supply is essential to supporting economic growth, attracting and retaining talent, and maintaining vibrant communities. Backed by this strong collaboration, the county is translating housing studies and policy recommendations into tangible developments, demonstrating meaningful momentum toward closing housing gaps and creating more attainable housing opportunities for current and future residents. Click here to learn more about recent housing development projects.
Maximizing Homegrown Talent
Lake County’s long-term economic strength depends on its ability to cultivate and retain homegrown talent, and local educators are working alongside other workforce ecosystem partners to build one of the most collaborative training pipelines in the region. Local leaders are at the forefront of a career pathway strategy that connects students directly with high-demand opportunities in manufacturing, healthcare, life sciences, and skilled trades.
Programs like Navig8 Lake — which now engages 6,000+ students and 140 companies — are giving young people hands-on exposure to local business leaders earlier than ever before, while platforms like SchoolLinks are streamlining connections between employers and educators.
At the same time, initiatives like the Lake County Manufacturing Alliance and workforce grant programs are helping businesses actively participate in training, mentorship, internships, and career development. Together, these efforts are creating a scalable, regional model for workforce development that positions Lake County to grow and compete for decades to come.
Lake County has established itself as a national leader in education. Local institutions are investing in the next generation workforce by strengthening connections between training and industry. As a result, Lake County is benefitting from new approaches to career pathways, technical training, dual-credit programs, and employer partnerships that are preparing students for high-demand fields including healthcare, manufacturing, life sciences, and technology. Here’s a look at what Lake County’s major educational institutions are doing to grow talent:
College of Lake County
In 2025, the College of Lake County (CLC) continued development of its Urban Farm Center, a first-of-its-kind facility designed to advance sustainable agriculture education, workforce training and community engagement. The center is expected to open in the fall of 2026.
CLC also expanded apprenticeship opportunities through a partnership with Advocate Health, celebrating the launch of a criminal justice apprenticeship program that creates new career pathways into healthcare security and public safety. Advocate apprentices join a growing network of students who have participated in CLC apprenticeship programs across multiple industries.
As a key partner in Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), CLC provided training and career pathways that prepared 146 residents for emerging opportunities in the clean energy sector. Further strengthening the talent pipeline, CLC reached record levels of dual credit enrollment, providing more than 5,600 high school students with access to college coursework and career-focused learning opportunities.
Lake County Tech Campus
The Tech Campus proudly served 2,300+ students during the 2025-2026 school year. The school recognized 300+ students at a Student Awards Night, and celebrated the accomplishments of students who competed at SkillsUSA. Tech Campus had nearly 450 students qualify for National Technical Honor Society, a prestigious honor based upon skills and academic process throughout student tenure.
This school year also saw 300+ students complete a 60-hour internship with a business partner, completing real-world hands on experiences in local business throughout Lake and McHenry counties. These opportunities reflect the Tech Campus’ ongoing commitment to being one of the Midwest’s premier career and technical education training facilities. Guided by its “Teach, Establish, Connect, and Honor” framework, the Tech Campus continues to connect industry leaders with students, especially with the continued growth of its Give Me TEN+ TECH 50 work-based learning program.
Moving into 2026-2027, the Tech Campus plans to expand its robust internship experiences and program engagement.
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science
Rosalind Franklin University’s Helix 51 biomedical incubator helps scientists make the leap from discovery to commercialization of urgently needed new therapeutics and diagnostics. In its 7 years of operations, Helix 51 has ushered in 30+ startups from a wide variety of institutions including:
- University of Chicago
- Lurie’s Children’s Hospital
- Endeavor Health
- Advocate Aurora Healthcare
- GE Healthcare
- Northwestern University
In addition to leveraging local talent pipelines, Helix 51 also welcomed its first international company, from Mexico. It is the home of 6 disease research centers, a clinical immunology laboratory and two larger commercial tenants: Tolmar (originally from Colorado) and the Chicago Clinical Research Institute.
Creating Space to Grow
Working alongside educators, nonprofits, employers, and public-sector leaders, LCP is helping advance solutions around affordable childcare, early childhood education, and long-term talent development — recognizing that economic competitiveness starts with strong communities and access to opportunity at every stage of life.
Recent milestones like Start Early’s launch of Educare Lake County in Zion represent a transformational investment in early learning and family support, expanding access to high-quality education for young children while strengthening the county’s future workforce pipeline.
At the same time, organizations like Reading Power and initiatives like the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, led by the Regional Office of Education, ensure that children collective efforts like these are creating a stronger foundation for families, preparing the next generation for success, and reinforcing Lake County as a place where residents can build long-term futures.
How Do These Initiatives Factor Into Business Success?
Ultimately, the success of these initiatives can be measured by their impact on business success. Companies thrive when they can access a skilled workforce, attract and retain employees, and operate in communities that offer a high quality of life. Expanding housing options helps employers recruit talent by ensuring workers can afford to live near their jobs. Strengthening education and workforce development pipelines provides businesses with the skilled employees they need to grow. Investments in childcare, early learning, and community support services reduce barriers to workforce participation and help families succeed.
Together, these efforts create the conditions that businesses look for when making investment and expansion decisions: a strong talent pipeline, vibrant communities, and a stable foundation for long-term growth. By advancing these interconnected priorities, Lake County is not only addressing today’s challenges but also building the competitive advantages that will support business success and economic prosperity for years to come.
No single organization can solve housing shortages, workforce challenges, educational inequities, or childcare gaps alone. Meaningful progress requires coordination across sectors, and Lake County continues to demonstrate the power of collaborative leadership. By bringing together businesses, educators, developers, nonprofits, municipalities, and community organizations around shared priorities, LCP is building the foundation for long-term economic prosperity.
The initiatives highlighted here reflect more than individual successes—they represent a collective commitment to creating a county where businesses can grow, residents can thrive, and future generations can access opportunity. As these partnerships continue to evolve, Lake County is well-positioned to remain a competitive, innovative, and resilient place to live, work, and invest.