LCEA continues to spark growth in Lake County

Lake County Economic Alliance (LCEA) promotes growth in Lake County by extending project development, project coordination, retention, and expansion efforts and services. Recently, LCEA supported the expansion of multiple businesses and the development of several housing projects locally. Ultimately, these projects contribute to further enhancing the lives of the county’s nearly 500,000 residents by facilitating additional work and living options.

LCEA Vice President of Business Development, Bailey Tombers, has been a part of these recent corporate and residential projects and has directly witnessed the organization’s positive impact on a local level.

Altogether, corporate expansions in the county have totaled billions of dollars over the course of the last year. To date in 2025, over 10 businesses have expanded their space and contributed over 1 billion dollars in capital investment.

“Lake County is consistently growing because of the pro-business climate our communities take,” said Tombers. “In commercial, manufacturing, and residential projects, Lake County is an attractive place for growth.”

These businesses include the local Lake County FedEx, Arcadia Cold, TradeLanes, Lineage, The Banc Calumet, Daifuku Intralogistics America Corporation, Jewel-Osco, Huhtamaki, and Decennial Group. They represent a wide-variety of industries from cold storage, distribution, and transportation to grocery, manufacturing, mixed-use redevelopment, molded fiber packaging, and more. These expansions equate to more than 5 million square feet of new business space.

These brick and mortar expansions have also propelled many of the businesses to expand their teams. Together these businesses have added 1,370 jobs.

“While we do assist with many of the projects, LCEA works to promote Lake County as a pro-business and pro-opportunity area,” said Tombers.

Like the business-related construction, housing development projects in the area have increased across much of Lake County’s communities.

These projects include the development of diverse housing that caters to various lifestyles and enhances local landscapes. In St. John, multiple master-planned communities, such as The Preserve at St. John, have been developed. Similarly, Gary is currently undergoing redevelopment in many neighborhoods as well as blight removal and new significant residential development.

In East Chicago, creation of an affordable senior housing development is actively underway. Referred to as Lakeshore Manor, the project is a $51 million residential development.

Housing development projects are also currently underway in Crown Point, Dyer, and Merrillville. These projects are diverse and offer various residential options catering to different ways of life.

“These cities also have a presence of new construction, including master-planned communities, single-family homes, and condos,” said Tombers. “These larger master plans contribute a quality of life that not only new residents will benefit from but our existing communities as well.”

Comprehensively, the business and the housing development projects signal that Lake County is very much pro economic and community growth.

To learn more about the Lake County Economic Alliance, its local efforts and development throughout the area, and more, please visit lcea.us.