After a solid 2024 business year in Lake County, with hundreds of new jobs, millions of dollars of capital investments and solid gross domestic product (GNP) growth, the first quarter of 2025 eclipsed all of 2024’s productivity as a level of uncertainty crept into the second quarter.
Along with its growth spurt in the first part of the year, Lake County was ranked as the 10th best county of 3,154 in the United States for doing business by Site Selection Magazine in July in part for its job creation, industry expansion and proximity to Chicago. Cook County ranked third.
Kevin Considine, the president and CEO of Lake County Partners, said the primary reason for the strong growth in the first three months of 2025 was the decision of Fortune Brands Innovations to consolidate all of its businesses in a central corporate headquarters here.
“We’ve had a really good little run the last five years,” Considine said. “The first quarter of 2025 eclipsed all of 2024. It was a great start to the year. It had a lot to do with Fortune Brands Innovations.”
The countywide business community in Lake County is currently basking in a strong first quarter of growth and earning the distinction of being in one of the nation’s best counties for doing business.
During 2024, 541 new jobs were created in Lake County, 667 jobs were retained by keeping businesses in the county when others tried to lure them away to places like Wisconsin, and $251 million was invested in capital improvements, according to the Lake County Partners annual report.
During January, February and March of this year, Considine said 1,702 jobs were created, 1,128 positions were retained and $246 million worth of capital investments — new or improved business facilities — were created.
Much of the growth came from Fortune Brands’ consolidation of its far-flung operations into a pair of office buildings in Deerfield which Considine said formerly housed Takeda.
Fortune Brands, which had net sales of $4.6 billion in 2024 according to its annual report, operates more than 10 well-known companies, including Moen Faucets, Master Lock, Yale Lock, Therma-Tru Doors and Sentry Safe, according to its website.
Fortune Brands CEO Nicholas Fink said in a January press release that the company was able to find the two former Takeda buildings in Deerfield, which are ideal to bring staff from all of its brands together in one place. It will have a synergistic effect, he said.
“Bringing together associates from across all our brands and functions into one state-of-the-art campus will help us to bring innovations and products to life faster, while also making the organization more efficient and aligned,” Fink said.
Fink said the two buildings are “an ideal location that already has innovative and fun spaces where associates can dream and build, while fostering stronger relationships, collaboration and a sense of community.” A third building on the site houses Angen, formerly Horizon Therapeutics.
A day after the second quarter of the year began on April 1, President Donald Trump called it “liberation day” and announced 10% or larger tariffs on most countries around the world. Considine said it created uncertainty for a number of Lake County businesses. Trump continues to negotiate trade deals.
“There is uncertainty due to the tariffs as they impact the supply chain and the bottom line,” Considine said. “It makes it difficult for a business to project. The trade deal with Japan was big. There is now one with the United Kingdom and the European Union. Hopefully it will bolster the second half of the year.”
Lake County also received a boost when the July issue of Site Selection Magazine listed the county as the 10th best county for business in the country. Maricopa County, Arizona, was first, Cook County third and Franklin County, Ohio was sixth. The other six were in Texas.
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A combination of large businesses like Abbott, AbbVie, Baxter and others, along with small and medium manufacturers, gives Lake County a solid industrial base. Considine said the College of Lake County helps fuel the workforce with local people. All these factors lead to the success.
“It really is a team effort,” he said. “With Cook County third and Lake County 10th, it shows the strength of the Chicagoland region. This is a (top) growth area of the country, which is seen by many (elsewhere) as counterintuitive.”
Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart credits a variety of the area’s strengths for helping it achieve the 10th-best ranking among the nation’s counties. She said the people who go to work every day are a big part of the reason.
“We have a highly educated workforce in a prime area to help businesses grow or expand,” she said. “Our businesses have what they need for success which is good for the people of Lake County.”