Will County Center For Economic Development Names New Leader

JOLIET, IL — Doug Pryor will be taking over as the new president and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development after serving as its vice president since 2017. He replaces John Greuling who will be retiring after 20 years in the post, on March 6.

“This is an exciting and humbling opportunity. I am eager to advance the work of building and diversifying the economy of Will County to improve opportunity and quality of life for all our residents,” Pryor said in Tuesday's news release. “Will County is a powerful economic engine for Illinois. Our incredible workforce, educational institutions, and positive business climate in the setting of some of the best transportation assets in the nation help ensure that we will continue to be a world-class destination for business growth for years to come."

According to Tuesday's release, Prior has also been an adjunct instructor of economics and statistics at Dominican University in River Forest for the past 10 years and currently serves on the State of Illinois Enterprise Zone Board. Previously he was the County Administrator for Grundy County and Vice President of Grundy Economic Development Council.

He is an alum of Joliet Junior College, graduate of the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in economics and holds an MBA from Dominican University. Prior is a native of Joliet and resides in New Lenox with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children.

The Will County Center for Economic Development is a not-for-profit economic development corporation established in 1981 to improve the quality of life for all residents in Will County by recruiting companies providing high quality jobs and solid tax base while assisting existing businesses to retain and add jobs.

During Greuling's time at the CED, Will County was far and away the top job creating county in Illinois, adding more than 90,000 jobs in a diverse set of industries, Tuesday's announcement noted.

"Amazon alone brought more than 10,000 well-paying jobs with benefits for residents during John’s time with the CED. Most recently, John was at the helm during the recruitment of Lion Electric Company to Joliet which is bringing manufacturing of electric vehicles to the region, again creating many new jobs," Pryor's news release indicated.

The Center for Economic Development leases office space in downtown Joliet inside the Catholic Charities Building now owned by John Bays.