Welcome to the Cook County Economic Development Toolbox

Researching a place to move, start or expand a business is usually a time-consuming process.  In order to make it easier, we’ve created this toolbox.  The Cook County Economic Development Toolbox is an easy-to-use feature that can direct you quickly to maps, data, and statistics about Cook County–the things you need to determine that Cook County is the right place for you.

How to Do Business with Cook County Government–From the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, you’ll find everything you need to know about becoming a vendor of Cook County Government

Incentives–a guide to financial incentives available for your business.  Check back often, as the list continues to grow.

Listing of Municipalies and Officials - a searchable directory from the office of the Cook County Clerk.

Cook County Property Information Portal - Consolidated website that offers one-stop shopping for property tax information is complete and available for use by the public.

The Cook County Department of Building and Zoning–are you a developer, or a builder?  Are you interested in zoning for a particular area in Unincorporated Cook County?  The Cook County Department of Building and Zoning can help you with information on sites, permits, and codes for locations in Unincorporated Cook County.

Cook County Census Data–a quick look at top-level 2010 Census data on Cook County, IL

Cook County Highway Department Permits–permits and forms to submit if your business will require construction on a Cook County right-of-way.  This includes, but is not limited to:  residential or commercial access, street entrances, roadway widening, regrading ditch lines, storm or sanitary sewers, water mains, sidewalk, bike paths, informational signage, traffic signals, plantings, soil borings, monitoring wells, road closures, road detours, and parades.

Cook County Planning and Development Programs–find out more about programs on neighborhood stabilization, home investment partnerships, Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs), Emergency Shelter Grants, Energy Efficiency Block Grants and much more.

Metro Chicago Data – the nation’s first “convergence cloud” site that brings public data from the City of Chicago, Cook County and the State of Illinois into a single open portal to help increase service efficiencies, access to vital information and new innovation.

MetroPulse–a dynamic data tool that allows you to browse a detailed data catalog on Cook County.  From the Chicago Metropolitan Agency on Planning

Homepage of the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA)–The RTA is the agency that manages all public transportation lines for Cook County

Tax Increment Financing 101-click here to learn more about TIF’s, TIF districts and more.

Maps

• Cook County Highway System
• Cook Viewer-an interactive map viewer that allows you to see the details of a particular property of interest.  Find the index number of the piece of land using the Property Information Number (PIN) Search.  Enter that number into the Cook Viewer.
• Elected Officials Serving Cook County--find out who represents the people in the area that you’d like to move, start or expand your business.
• Cook County Facilities and Public Transportation Map--look at where public transportation can impact the ability of your customers and employees to get to you.  You can also easily find Cook County Government locations.
• Cook County Map on Google Earth–find roads and construction, schools, hospitals and more on this interactive Google Earth map.
• Public Services–a map of Cook County Government locations and the public services available at each.
• Tax Increment Financing Districts
• Chicago TIF Viewer-a detailed look at TIF districts in Chicago