Ilana Preuss

About Ilana Preuss

Every place has a unique personality. And the people who live in each place have unique skills to make that place shine. When I started working with local governments and real estate developers over 25 years ago, I found that most advice they were given by consultants was too vague and too “anywhere U.S.A.” I saw committed local leaders pulled in a thousand different directions every day, trying to make a difference to build great places for their residents, but they didn’t have the best solution— specific to their needs—at their fingertips. I spent 17 years working directly with these leaders in the federal, non-profit, and private sectors to make sure they had the people and policies at hand to create places EVERYONE can call home.But since I know that every local leader has just A FEW different hats to wear in their job, my goal is to simplify the process and help you drill down to the right planning, economic development, marketing, or business development solution at the right time to create great places that are uniquely yours.Are you a local real estate developer who is ready to create a stand-out project that showcases what is amazing about your town?Are you a local economic development director who knows that chasing the smokestacks just won\'t cut it anymore?Are you a local elected leader who believes that there is untapped potential in the people of your community to create a place everyone is proud to call home with good paying jobs?Our Recast Leaders program gives you the power and the capacity to understand what you want your downtown to become, who should benefit from it, and clear actions to make a difference immediately for your small-scale manufacturing business owners and your local property owners to make a great place that brings your community together to thrive. This national cohort program is ONLY for local leaders ready to learn and make things happen now.For details about our Recast Leaders national cohort, check out:

Experience

1. Founder & CEO

   Recast City

   Dec 2014 — Present

   I LAUNCHED RECAST CITY TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN FOR THE LOCAL ECONOMY. My commitment is to apply my expertise in smart growth, community reinvestment, real estate analysis, and stakeholder engagement to create more opportunity for more people in more places and to create strong, inclusive, and resilient economies. It’s based on a few core beliefs. I believe in the power of local business. I believe in greater opportunity for more people - from big city to rural town. I believe in creating more places we love - everywhere. I believe we create strong resilient local economies by investing in all of these outcomes. And I believe that small-scale manufacturing businesses, and the real estate they occupy, gets us these outcomes.So that’s what we do. WE WORK WITH LOCAL LEADERS TO CREATE GREAT PLACES THAT BUILD ENERGY, INCREASE THE NUMBER OF GOOD PAYING JOBS, FILL OUR STOREFRONTS, AND MAKE PEOPLE PROUD OF WHERE THEY’RE FROM. ALL BY BRINGING SMALL-SCALE MANUFACTURING BUSINESSES INTO THE FOREFRONT.

Education

• University of Maryland

  Masters of City Planning, Smart Growth Policy, City Planning

• Cornell University

  Bachelor's of Arts, Urban Planning

  1992 — 1996

Skills

• Transit-Oriented Development
• Policy Analysis
• Real Estate
• Redevelopment
• Public Speaking
• Urban Planning
• Smart Growth
• Research
• Program Management
• Downtown Redevelopment
• Public Policy
• Policy
• Coalitions
• Land Use Planning
• Economic Development
• Strategic Planning
• Industrial Development
• Nonprofits
• Fundraising
• Proposal Writing
• Grants
• Affordable Housing
• Analysis
• Transportation Planning
• Community Outreach
• Community Development
• Legislative Relations