Lake County Partners Has Fueled $290+ Million in Direct Capital Investment 

Lake County Partners' strategic support of development projects over the last two years has had a tremendous impact on the local economy. The organization has been directly involved in creating 2,770 new jobs, retaining 1,478 jobs and fueling more than $290 million in direct capital investments - an astronomical sum that doesn't include workforce wages or the indirect or induced impacts of the direct investments. Big wins in advanced manufacturing and life sciences coupled with a surge in speculative development are setting the stage for continued success.

Homegrown Talent to Meet the Needs of Tomorrow

New AZ Polymers HQ Creates Jobs

Local Grads Return to Make Their Mark

School Pipeline Launches Careers

When business owner Sahil Aggarwal enlisted LCP's support in the site selection process, his local roots played a big role in his decision to break ground in Gurnee. See how this former student of Warren Township High School and the College of Lake County is positioning AZ Polymers to meet industry needs.

Six Waukegan High School graduates left to attend elite colleges less than ten years ago. They all returned to make their mark in roles that include an elected official, a municipal board member, a political organizer, a teacher and mentor. They are now bound together through hard work and community commitment.

In pursuit of her dream to become a molecular scientist, Carris Borland completed a Pre-Med Associate's Degree at the College of Lake County, and went on to Lake Forest College, where she is now a senior juggling applications at some of the most well-respected neuroscience Ph.D. programs in the country while finalizing her thesis on Parkinson's disease. 

We're Focused on the Silver Linings of COVID-19 

There is no question that the past 14 months have been among the most challenging that many of us have ever faced. Yet, we are in a defining period of collaboration and growth, and LCP's innovative work with local leaders should provide a spark of optimism for what the future holds in Lake County. 

Forbes Honors Lake County Companies

Grainger, AbbVie, Abbott and Walgreens once again topped Forbes' annual List of America's Best Employers for Diversity. The awards recognize businesses with 1,000+ employees that have taken proactive steps to advance diversity, equity and inclusion and build diverse boards and executive ranks.

Quick Takes

Meet a Member

Trent Gordon
Vice President, Business Development, Patient Service Areas and Integration at Advocate Aurora Health

How did you get into healthcare?

I originally wanted to get a Ph.D. in philosophy and teach. However, my sophomore year in college, I ended up with a student job in the Healthcare Administration Department. It was a pivotal time for healthcare as President Clinton had just been elected, promising universal health insurance in his first 100 days. 

Even though I wasn’t a student in the department, a professor, Dr. Bill McCaughrin, pulled me into various conversations and spoke to me like I was already a graduate student taking one of his classes. I was hooked on a field that was changing rapidly and one where I could make a significant impact on the community where I lived. 

How has COVID-19 impacted your duties?

I work with some amazing physicians, nurses, lab workers, techs, pharmacists, therapists, leaders, etc. at Advocate Aurora Health and can’t say enough about their response during COVID. Pausing our normal day-to-day routines in Business Development allowed us to re-imagine some of our projects in terms of what services we offer and how we offer them. In addition to pivoting quickly to telehealth services, we also started offering drive-thru services and testing, beyond those for COVID-19, so that our patients felt safe and confident seeking the routine care they needed in the midst of the pandemic. 

How are you responding to emerging healthcare trends?

The past year has tested our organization and our team in previously unthinkable ways. Although 2021 continues to present many challenges, we are proud of our response to COVID-19 and our evolution into a more flexible operation that is positioned to provide best-in-class care well into the future. To deliver important care and support patients suffering from both COVID-19 and other illnesses, we rapidly expanded consumer-first offerings including telemedicine and developed a COVID symptom checker that has been used more than 400,000 times since the pandemic began.

We conducted nearly 1 million virtual visits in 2020 with overwhelmingly positive patient response, and believe that telemedicine is here to stay. We’ve seen tremendous success with virtual visits, especially for our patients seeking mental health care, on-going diabetes treatment and weight management programs. In April, we opened our Center for Health and Integrative Medicine at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, which offers our patients holistic, evidence-based healing to help them on their journey to wellness. Whether you’re managing diabetes or fighting cancer, the professionals at our Center will design a program specifically tailored to you that aims to treat the whole person - mind, body and spirit – and help people live well. The Center offers specialized yoga classes, therapeutic massage, acupuncture and nutrition counseling, along with personalized coaching.

In March of 2020, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital was one of the first Advocate Aurora Health sites to pilot drive-thru testing for COVID-19. Our team had seen it work in communities around the world, and we believed that this testing model offered both our patients and our team members safety and efficiency while also allowing us to manage high volumes. Because of our success with this model and how satisfied our patients were with this approach, we’re exploring ways to incorporate it into the future.

The last year exposed lasting health disparities, especially in communities of color. We’re doubling down on our efforts to improve health care access for everyone, including community clinics for flu shots, and now COVID-19 vaccines with walk-in clinics at Advocate Condell Medical Center, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Advocate Sherman Hospital and Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital. It’s one example of our work to reduce the persistent health inequities that exist, but we also recognize we have a lot of work to do.

How do you spend your free time?

I like to be athletic with my kids. I coached my daughter’s volleyball team for many years and now I just watch, but we still bump the ball around a lot. Both my son and I take private target archery lessons, and we really got into disc golf during the pandemic. There are some great disc golf courses in Lake County, and Fairfield Park in Round Lake, which is considered one of the best courses in the state, is only 10 minutes from where we live. 

We appreciate your leadership and all you have done to fight the pandemic and support Lake County Partners.

I enjoy being a Board member, but Lake County Partners has certainly given me more than I’ve given to the organization. Our meetings with LCP have provided insights to growth in the County that have informed our decision-making about future clinic locations that our current data sets can’t match. It’s the personal touch of Kevin and staff that make LCP so unique. 

Our work to drive economic development in Lake County would not be possible without the leadership of our Board of Directors & the support of our investors.