Ilana Preuss

Ilana is the Founder & CEO of Recast City, and the author of, Recast Your City: How to Save Your Downtown with Small-Scale Manufacturing, released by Island Press June 2021.

Preuss’ passion for great places grew out of her experience working with big and small cities all over the country when she led the technical assistance program at the U.S. EPA Smart Growth Program, and as the Vice President & Chief of Staff at Smart Growth America.

As the daughter of a maker (you should see her mother’s quilts!) and a life-long city lover (her father still teaches her how to wander cities well!), Ilana combined her love of places, locals who love those places, and her impatience to make things happen NOW in communities into a new firm.

Through Recast City, she partners with local leaders to bring main street back to life, bring business back to downtown, and build an inclusive and resilient economy. All by bringing small-scale manufacturing businesses into redevelopment projects and place-based economic development. She is passionate about making great places and sees that small-scale product businesses are a missing piece in today’s mixed-use development, commercial property repositioning, and local economic development strategy.

When Preuss is not onsite with a city or coaching a community leader, she can be found cooking up a storm with her two amazing teens. She lives in Maryland, always hunts down the local chocolate production business, and still sings along to all 80’s music.