Prior to be being named Director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Jack Lavin worked as Chief Financial Officer for Rezko Enterprises, where he was directly responsible for the financial operations, accounting, budgeting, capital planning, banking, new-site development, and construction of a $100 million dollar company.  Rezko Enterprises has over 150 Panda Express and Papa John's Pizza stores primarily in the Midwestern United States.  Mr. Lavin was with Rezko Enterprises for over seven years and helped lead their growth from eight restaurants in 1995 to their current size.  Previously, he served in key financial positions at Abbot Laboratories in Puerto Rico and North Chicago, including positions as a financial analyst and cost analyst.

Mr. Lavin served from 1993-1995 as Deputy State Treasurer from the State of Illinois, where he was directly responsible for all investment strategies and programs in the Treasurer's $5 billion annual investment portfolio.  Prior to that, he was Director of Development Finance for the State Treasurer from 1991-1993.  Jack wrote, developed, and testified on legislation to expand childcare, recycling, and worker retraining and create a capital-access program in Illinois.