Jerry James
President
Edward James Companies

Jerry began his career in 1981, as a real estate lender for Continental Illinois National Bank. While at Continental, he participated in the bank’s real estate training program and worked on a $2B loan portfolio of assets located across the country. In 1985, he joined the family business. His first projects included development of the company’s first retail center, and completion of a vacation home community in the resort town of New Buffalo Michigan. Since that time, Jerry has led the land acquisition, planning, entitlement and financing for nearly 2,000 residential units and approximately $1B of residential and mixed-use development. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the Lambda Alpha International Honorary Professional Land Economics Fraternity, and the Commonwealth Club of Chicago. He is a past director of the Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago, past Chairman of the Merit School of Music, former chairman of the Young Leaders Group of the Chicago Community Trust, and a ’93/94 Fellow of Leadership Greater Chicago. He received an undergraduate degree in political science from Dartmouth College, attended the London School of Economics for a fellowship abroad, and received an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago in 1986. Jerry resides in the suburbs with his wife and three children.