Lori Bush is director of business development for World Business Chicago (WBC), a public-private economic development agency whose core mission is to coordinate Chicago’s business attraction and retention efforts and promote Chicago as a premier global city. In this role, Lori works as an advocate for companies considering a Chicago location and provides site location assistance and incentives advice, presents Chicago’s competitive advantages for business, and coordinates with various government and private sector agencies.
Prior to joining WBC, Lori was a city planner for the City of Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development. In that role, she managed real estate and economic development projects proposed for downtown Chicago’s Loop business district. She reviewed development plans totaling tens of millions of square feet of proposed mixed-use projects downtown, in addition to negotiating multi-million dollar incentive proposals to invest in attracting jobs and headquarters downtown, preserve landmark buildings and create open space. She served on the Chicago Central Area Action Plan task force for land use and economic development planning for Chicago’s central business district.
Lori holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies from Central College and completed coursework at Trinity College in Wales, U.K. She holds a Master of Urban Planning and Policy degree with a concentration in Economic Development from the University of Illinois at Chicago where she received a fellowship with the Center for Urban Economic Development.
