Mission

The Cook County Bureau of Economic Development (BED) works to foster economic development and job growth, promote regional collaboration, workforce, and community development through the strategic leveraging of resources and efficient professional management. 

BED provides overall strategic management of all programs and ensures cooperation and collaboration among its departments. 

Mandates and Key Activities 

• Foster business growth, attraction, and retention
• Support workforce development, job creation, and sustainable employment 
• Encourage sustainable community investment connecting housing, employment, development and transportation 
• Promote affordable housing 
• Advance regional planning focused on the integration of economic, physical, and social infrastructure
• Direct enforcement of Building and Zoning regulations
• Craft strategies and programs to enhance the County’s position within the region and facilitates the implementation of this work with the six surrounding collar counties of Lake, Will, Kane, DuPage, McHenry, Kendall, and the City of Chicago

Departments

BED has three departments within its umbrella: 

• Building and Zoning (B&Z) [2]
• Planning and Development (DPD) [3]
• Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA)  [4]

Disaster Recovery

DPD was awarded Federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding related to severe flooding that occurred in the Spring of 2013 in suburban Cook County. For more information, and to download our application for the CDBG-DR Design/Engineering Grant Program, please go to the Disaster Recovery and Resilience site [5].

• View video from CDBG-DR ribbon-cutting in Riverdale, IL. [6] 

Strategic Plans and Regional Growth Initiatives

Learn more about our Strategic Plans and Regional Growth Initiatives [7] -  a vital part of our work.

Public Notices

Click here [8] to view our public notices.