Jason Lake is a principal of the Chicago office. Prior to NexGen, Jason was with Arthur Andersen, LLP for 8 years (1994-2002). He has extensive experience in the tax and financial incentive niche. Jason speaks regularly on a broad array of tax and financial incentive topics.

Relative to negotiated business and real estate development incentives, Jason concentrates his focus on both full-service implementation as well as strategic positioning against future contingencies. Jason prides himself in providing complete and step-by-step advisory and implementation services to his clients. He also concentrates on the identification of future client fact-pattern contingencies, helping his clients craft economic agreements that will allow maximum flexibility and the greatest possible chance of full benefit realization.

Jason provides full service tax credit consulting work, including but not limited to, Multi-state Credit Reviews, Targeted Credit Initiatives, Best Practice Consulting, Audit Defense, and Outsourcing/Compliance functions. Jason has pioneered and successfully defended the use of alternative computation and audit methodologies relative to tax credits. His other notable area of credit expertise is relative to preservation/utilization/generation of tax credits in merger and acquisition scenarios.

Jason earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Indiana University. Jason is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the state of Illinois.

Rick Chukas is a founding principal of NexGen. Prior to the creation of NexGen, Rick was a partner in Arthur Andersen where he held a number of leadership positions during his 23 year career with Andersen.

Rick has extensive experience in real estate with an emphasis on financial structuring, valuation and in various aspects of federal, state and local taxation affecting real estate development and operations. Rick focuses much of his practice on the structuring and utilization of available tax advantaged programs including Historic Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, Low Income Housing Tax Credits and Tax Increment Finance. These programs serve as a means to strengthen and enhance the overall capital structure of real estate ventures.

Rick works with developers, investors and public agencies in negotiating and structuring transactions that serve the needs of all interested parties.

Rick is a graduate of Iowa State University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Administration and The University of Iowa where he obtained a Master of Arts in Accounting. Rick is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Illinois Tax Increment Association, the Council of Development Finance Agencies and the Urban Land Institute in addition to other professional organizations. He is active in various civic and charitable organizations and a frequent speaker and author on a number of financially oriented topics.

Shannon O'Hare has been with NexGen since 2004. She specializes in economic development consulting including tax increment financing, incentive negotiations, and municipal finance. Shannon focuses on structuring, negotiating, and implementing fair and mutually advantageous partnerships between the public and private sectors. Shannon has extensive experience with Eligibility Reports, Redevelopment Plans, financial feasibility analysis of real estate projects, municipal tax projections, and real estate economics, as well as business incentive negotiations for corporations. Shannon is active in the Illinois Tax Increment Association, the Illinois Enterprise Zone Association, and the Urban Land Institute.

Prior to joining NexGen, Shannon was with Arthur Andersen, LLP and Deloitte & Touche, LLP. Shannon's most recent position was as an income tax manager in the state and local tax group. Shannon provided full-service state and local tax services to her clients. Her clients have been a various sectors, including but not limited to distribution, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and service providers. Shannon earned her Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.