Byline: Susan Diesenhouse

Oct. 10--Meredith O'Connor, a longtime executive at World Business Chicago who has helped retain and attract major corporations to the city, is joining real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. this month, the company said Tuesday.

As a Jones Lang executive vice president, O'Connor, 38, will focus on bringing in new clients and serving existing ones, said Dan Ryan, Jones Lang's Chicago market director.

"She is smart, experienced, has deep relationships in Chicago and is a great cultural fit," he said.

For almost seven years, O'Connor has served as the director of business development at World Business, a public/private economic ...