Kimm Lauterbach

As a founding member of REDI Cincinnati’s leadership team, Kimm engineers strategies and tactics that strengthen the three-state, 15-county Cincinnati region to compete globally. Kimm took the helm of REDI Cincinnati in September 2018, following five successful years as vice president of business development and project management for the organization. In that role, she changed the face of economic development in the Cincinnati region, leading all aspects of the deal for companies locating to or expanding in the region.

Throughout her 20-year career, she has played a pivotal role in Ohio’s economic development across multiple cities and counties in both the public and private sectors, aligning diverse stakeholder interests with the needs of business communities across long-term regional economic goals.

Kimm serves on the board of directors for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, Cincinnati Experience, BE NKY Growth Partnership, the Federal Reserve Southwest Ohio & Northern Kentucky Business Advisory Council and the University of Cincinnati Research Institute, as well as having previously served on the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Foreign Trade Zone boards. In 2024, Kimm was selected as a YWCA Career Women of Achievement Honoree. In 2023, Kimm was honored with two TITAN Women in Business Awards, earning recognition as a platinum winner for Female Executive of the Year – Non-Profitable Organization and gold winner for Female Executive of the Year – CEO of the Year. In addition, Venue and Lead Magazine named Kimm a Women of Influence. In January 2022, she was named to the International Economic Development Council’s Excellence in Economic Development Awards Advisory Committee. Awards have highlighted Kimm’s successful career, with the Cincinnati Business Courier naming Kimm its 2021 CEO of the Year for Small Nonprofit Organizations, which follows the publication’s 2017 Women Who Mean Business recognition. In 2016 and again in 2021, Consultant Connect named her one of North America's Top 50 Economic Developers. Under Kimm’s leadership, the Cincinnati Business Courier named REDI Cincinnati a finalist as “Best Places to Work” four years in a row. 

Kimm is a magna cum laude graduate of Indiana University’s Master of Public Administration program, with concentrations in nonprofit management and public policy. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Dayton.

Kimm lives in Mason, Ohio, with her husband, Leo. She’s an avid SCUBA diver who enjoys live music, Bengal's games, and supporting her two adult daughters in their endeavors.