Sailboats on Lake Michigan at sunset with the Waukegan skyline in the distance

Waukegan, Illinois

Business Grows Here.

The Waukegan Chamber connects businesses, creates opportunity, strengthens the local economy, and helps members succeed.

Join the Chamber Explore Membership

Event calendar

Upcoming networking mixers, workshops, and ribbon cuttings.

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Find a member

Search hundreds of local businesses by industry and neighborhood.

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Who we are

The central organization connecting business, opportunity, and community in Waukegan.

For more than a century, the Waukegan Chamber of Commerce has represented the companies that employ this city — manufacturers on the industrial corridor, storefronts on Genesee Street, clinics on Grand Avenue, and the professional firms that serve them all.

We do three things well: we bring business owners together, we make it easier to operate and grow here, and we carry a unified business voice to the decision-makers who shape Waukegan's future.

About the Chamber Leadership & board

Membership

What membership does for your business

Every benefit is built around one question: does this help a Waukegan business win more work, hire better people, or operate with less friction?

Explore Membership

Business connections

Direct introductions to buyers, suppliers, and partners across Waukegan and Lake County.

Networking

Monthly mixers, coffee connects, and industry roundtables that build real relationships.

Advocacy

A unified business voice at City Hall, in Springfield, and with regional agencies.

Marketing & visibility

Directory listings, ribbon cuttings, sponsorships, and member spotlights that get you seen.

Community involvement

Volunteer, sponsor, and serve alongside the people who are building Waukegan.

Business resources

Permitting guidance, lending contacts, and templates that save owners weeks of work.

Education

Workshops on hiring, digital marketing, cybersecurity, finance, and succession planning.

Economic development

Site selection support, incentive navigation, and workforce pipelines with local partners.

Upcoming events

Where Waukegan business meets

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SEP17

Networking

Lakefront Business Breakfast

Start the morning with 120 Waukegan owners and executives, a working breakfast, and a briefing on lakefront redevelopment.

7:30 – 9:00 AM · Waukegan Harbor Pavilion

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SEP25

Education

Small Business Growth Lab

A hands-on afternoon workshop on pricing, cash flow, and building a marketing engine that runs without you.

1:00 – 4:00 PM · Chamber Learning Room

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OCT8

Signature Event

State of the City Luncheon

The Mayor's annual address to the business community, followed by a moderated Q&A and a member marketplace.

11:30 AM – 1:30 PM · Genesee Theatre

View event

Waukegan business owners talking at a Chamber networking event

Member directory

Buy local. Hire local. Build local.

Search hundreds of Chamber businesses by industry and neighborhood — from precision manufacturers to the bakery on the corner. Every dollar spent with a member stays closer to home.

Find a business

Why Waukegan

A working lakefront city with room to build.

Waukegan sits on Lake Michigan at the center of the Chicago–Milwaukee corridor, with a deep industrial base, a young and multilingual workforce, and development sites that are still genuinely affordable.

Location: Lakefront harbor, I-94 access, Metra to downtown Chicago, and an executive airport.
Workforce: A diverse labor pool with strong community college and apprenticeship pipelines.
Entrepreneurship: One of Lake County's most active small business and immigrant-founder communities.
Investment: Active downtown, harbor, and industrial redevelopment with incentives available.

More about Waukegan

Brick storefronts and pedestrians on a Waukegan downtown street

Chamber impact

Measured in businesses, not impressions.

450+

Member businesses

Across Waukegan and Lake County

60+

Events each year

Networking, education, and ribbon cuttings

1,800

Businesses served

Referrals, resources, and advocacy

110

Years serving Waukegan

Founded in 1916

Member spotlight

The businesses behind the city

Browse the directory

Retail & Dining

Harbor Street Bakery

Maria Delgado opened Harbor Street Bakery with two employees and a single deck oven. Today the bakery supplies twelve area restaurants and employs eighteen people, most of them from within a mile of the storefront.

Read their story

Manufacturing

Lakeshore Precision Manufacturing

Precision machined components for the medical device and aerospace supply chains.

Retail & Dining

Genesee Collective

A shared downtown storefront housing nine independent Waukegan makers.

Explore the area

Shop, eat, play, golf, and unwind in Waukegan

Waukegan pairs a working lakefront with independent shops, a deep restaurant scene, parks, beaches, theaters, fairways, and nightlife worth the trip. Browse Chamber members by what you're looking for.