Michael Jasso

Michael Jasso

Michael Jasso is the Chief of the Bureau of Economic Development for Cook County, IL. In this capacity, Michael has responsibility over the Departments of Planning and Development (DPD), Building and Zoning, and Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). Michael leads the work of the Bureau in collaborating with the 7-counties of northeastern Illinois and the City of Chicago in developing and implementing initiatives to grow the regional economy. These initiatives include the designation of the area as a preferred location for Federal planning and investment in the metal industries cluster, fostering increased export activity, and collective efforts to streamline the movement of goods across the region. Michael serves on the Boards of the Cook County Land Bank Authority and the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership. Michael has also served as the Director of Cook County DPD having taken on this role in August, 2013. Michael managed the department responsible for the use of federal entitlement grants such as CDBG, HOME, NSP, etc. for the 2nd most populous county in the United States. The department led the County’s initiative to create and implement its strategic economic development growth plan, coordinates with other County departments and agencies, and administers the various tax incentives related to the promotion of economic development and investment. Prior to joining Cook County, Michael served as the Managing Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Housing and Economic Development (DHED, now DPD) for the City of Chicago. Michael returned to City government in August of 2008 to head up development for the central district of the City before taking on the role of Managing Deputy Commissioner at the start of 2009. In his capacity as Managing Deputy Commissioner, Michael oversaw the Bureau of Economic Development with various areas of responsibility within the department focused on job creation and fostering city-wide revitalization, including the use of the City’s $1 billion plus Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Program. Prior to returning to Chicago in 2007, Michael served as the Special Assistant in the District of Columbia (DC) Government developing, overseeing and administering the District’s TIF Program. Michael was involved in the development and financing of several significant DC projects, including the downtown Gallery Place project which signaled the return of new retail to the District’s center, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and the 500,000 sf DC USA retail project in the Columbia Heights community. Michael is a native Chicagoan having grown up on the southwest side of the City. He is a former Peace Corps volunteer and served in Yemen for two years working on the restoration of the Old City of Sanaa, a World Heritage site. He holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin where he was a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Fellow.