Investment by businesses continues to grow in Lake County, and it made its biggest jump yet in 2025 when companies collectively invested $633 million in capital projects in building or improving their facilities.
Over the past five years, $1.83 billion has been spent for that purpose.
Kevin Considine, the president and CEO of Lake County Partners, said the not-for-profit business development organization tracks a five-year capital investment total each year. It exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2023 at $1.23 billion for the five years ending then.
In 2025, businesses spent an aggregate of $633 million to build, expand or improve facilities, according to Lake County Partners’ annual report released Jan. 9 in Lincolnshire.
The $633 million for 2025 provided 35.7% of the capital spending in the county for the past five years. It is a leading factor making the past year the strongest for the county for at least the past 28 years.
“Lake County has been on an upward trend for a number of years, and that really accelerated in 2025,” Considine said. “We continue to see extensive growth, especially in manufacturing, in our targeted sectors of pharmaceuticals, metal devices and high-tech plastics.”
Business had a record year in 2025, adding hundreds of jobs and retaining hundreds more throughout Lake County, with Fortune Brands substantially expanding its Deerfield corporate headquarters and AbbVie planning a $195 million plant in North Chicago, playing key roles.
Considine said that along with single moves by Fortune Brands, AbbVie and others, companies like Belle Aire Creations in Libertyville and Round Lake, as well as FLEX expanded a second time in the past few years.
“Fortune Brands was the single largest factor by a long shot,” Considine said. “Seeing companies we helped to grow, grow again is pretty cool. There was a good geographic spread throughout Lake County.”
During 2025, 862 new jobs were created in the county and another 1,333 retained as employers kept them local rather than going across the state line to Wisconsin or elsewhere, according to the report. GDP in Lake County grew 3.2%, compared to 2% estimates for the country.
Lake County received national attention over the summer when it was named one of the top 10 counties — 10th overall — out of 3,154 in the United States by Site Selection Magazine, in part for its job creation, industry expansion and proximity to Chicago.
“We have a highly educated workforce in a prime area to help businesses grow or expand,” Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart said at the time. “Our businesses have what they need for success, which is good for the people of Lake County.”
Considine said the communities within Lake County provide places for people to live with a variety of different vibes for many lifestyles.
When Fortune Brands — makers of products like Moen Faucets and Master Lock, among many other name brands — decided to vastly expand its 135-person corporate headquarters, lifestyle was one of the reasons it chose Deerfield to relocate hundreds of people from around the country.
“There are great schools, it’s close to Lake Michigan and accessible to downtown Chicago,” Leigh Avsec, the company’s head of external affairs, said in October. “It’s a very special place,” she added, noting the proximity to O’Hare International Airport, Interstate 94, and train connections.
Bringing executives from all of its product lines together required a place where Fortune Brands could potentially employ 1,000 people. The company is using two of three midrise buildings on Lake Cook Road in Deerfield, once occupied by Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Takeda left for Boston six years ago.
A longtime fixture in North Chicago and Waukegan, AbbVie, one of the largest biomedical companies in the world, ranking just below Pfizer, announced in August that it was spending $195 million to build a facility to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients for its medicines.
One of the companies undergoing its second expansion in the past four years is Belle Aire. It makes flavors and fragrances for numerous products. Jason Dhaliwal, the company’s chief operating officer, said it opened two new facilities in that span.
Dhaliwal said in December that Belle Aire outgrew its original space in Mundelein and moved to Round Lake Park in 2021. The following year, it opened a facility in Libertyville for its corporate headquarters and to house a creative center. It grew from 60 employees in 2000 to more than 200.
Flex, a global manufacturer based in Singapore with a facility in Buffalo Grove, is increasing its presence in Lake County with a 335,000-square-foot plant in Libertyville, according to the report. It will initially bring 200 new jobs, with the potential to add another 200 as demand increases.
Developing a workforce for the jobs being created — particularly in manufacturing — is another contribution to continued business growth in Lake County. Considine said area residents receive training locally.
Considine said a “workforce ecosystem partnership” between the College of Lake County, Lake County Workforce Development, the Regional Office of Education, Lake County Partners and several businesses keeps skilled workers flowing into needed positions.
“Existing businesses need to grow,” Considine said. “They know they can find the workforce here.”
