Lake County Partners calls 2025 its best year, highlights housing and manufacturing growth

Kevin Considine, president and CEO of Lake County Partners, told the Lake County Financial & Administrative Committee on Feb. 5 that 2025 was “our best year ever,” producing roughly 1,800 new jobs and about $633,000,000 in direct capital investment. He said roughly 1,000 of those jobs were in manufacturing and that most gains came from expansions of existing businesses rather than relocations.

Considine outlined LCP’s five‑year picture, noting about 4,000 jobs in the pipeline and 2,700 retained jobs contributing approximately $1,800,000,000 in investment. He said three of the projects tracked in 2025 were multifamily housing developments—two in Fox Lake and one in Libertyville—and that more housing-related announcements are expected.

The LCP president reviewed the organization’s funding and staffing: the county provides a $387,000 investment (about 26% of LCP’s total budget), LCP employs six people with one vacancy, and roughly half of LCP’s budget goes to salaries. He also described investor and board‑governance efforts and previewed a large LCP event on April 24 and a delegation trip to Germany tied to trade‑show outreach.

Board members asked for additional data about net employment (resident employed vs. jobs located in the county) and longer five‑year trend lines; Considine said he would follow up with job‑location figures. Members also praised LCP’s advocacy work on housing—one member thanked Considine for speaking to a village board in support of a 130‑unit rental community in Round Lake targeted to the 50+ age group.

The committee received the update with appreciation; Considine said he would circulate slides and follow up with requested trend data.