Rebecca "Elissa" Wilson

Elissa is of counsel in the Vorys Columbus office.  As a member of Vorys’ national economic development incentives practice, Elissa represents businesses and developers in structuring and negotiating a wide array of incentives packages, utilizing tax credits, abatements, economic development financing mechanisms, public-private partnerships and special economic development entities, for projects throughout the country.     

Since re-joining Vorys in 2022, Elissa has led multi-party incentives negotiations for projects with combined projected capital expenditures in excess of $18.5B and collaborated with other team members on an additional $3.5B worth of projects.  Elissa counsels clients throughout all phases of the site selection, incentive negotiation and implementation process, and has negotiated incentives for projects across a range of industries, including manufacturing megaprojects, hyperscale data centers, a sports stadium, retail developments and other transformative development projects.

Previously, Elissa was an assistant city attorney for the City of Columbus, where she served as general counsel to the Director of the Department of Development and negotiated the city’s economic development incentives.  

Elissa started her career in complex commercial litigation with a focus on appellate work.  She served as a law clerk for the Honorable Ralph K. Winter on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Elissa received her J.D. from Yale Law School. 

Elissa’s notable recent experience includes:

• Serving as lead incentives counsel for a Fortune 500 Company, securing state and local incentives for a multi-billion-dollar advanced manufacturing megaproject.  
• Negotiating property tax incentives and infrastructure related agreements for hyperscale data center operators and developers across multiple jurisdictions in the American Southwest.   
• Serving as lead incentives counsel for a Fortune 50 retailer on incentives matters across the country.
• Structuring a complex tax increment financing package, spanning multiple TIF districts, for one of the most ambitious multi-billion-dollar urban revitalization projects in the country.
• Representing the City of Columbus in the negotiation of incentives agreements and other public-private partnership agreements relating to Lower.com Stadium, Astor Park, and the Scioto Peninsula. 

Honors & Recognitions

The Best Lawyers in America, Economic Development Law, 2025