Northeast Indiana continues to see growth, new investment
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIn northeast Indiana, multiple projects are transforming Fort Wayne and the region like never before.
On Friday, Fort Wayne-based Do It Best Corp. announced the completion of its nearly $200 million acquisition of True Value Co. LLC.
“I look at it as a tremendous opportunity to not only care for that brand, but reinvigorate it,” CEO Dan Starr told Inside INdiana Business host Gerry Dick. “I think that we’re very proud to be in our community, and our community has demonstrated so much support for Do it Best. I think it’s also true that True Value is just a much more recognizable brand.”
Do it Best’s headquarters are located in the Electric Works mixed-use innovation district. The former General Electric campus underwent a nearly $300 million redevelopment and opened in 2022.
“It was a manufacturing center for over 100 years, and to see that now happening again in a different way, now in the innovation space…we have just over 900 people that are coming to campus every day. The aim is to grow that to over 2,000 within the next 12 to 18 months,” Electric Works Senior Experience Director Katy Silliman said.
In its first year, Electric Works welcomed over 770,000 unique visitors and hosted more than 200 events.
A recent Community Impact Report on Electric Works shows the project is forecasted to have an annual economic impact of $375 million upon completion and full occupancy.
READ MORE: Residential space at Electric Works nears completion
More than $1 billion has been invested in downtown Fort Wayne over the past 10 years, with the anticipation of an additional billion dollars in the decade ahead.
“I do think that the catalyst here was Parkview’s creation of Parkview Field and that investment in downtown,” Starr said. “It has just been one win after the next, mainly for this community, for the Henry administration and for the entrepreneurs who make this the city go. It’s been a phenomenal run, and it continues.”
Fort Wayne isn’t the only part of northeast Indiana looking forward to future growth.
Warsaw-based Zimmer Biomet recently added some star power to its roster. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the company’s first Chief Movement Officer. Schwarzenegger said in a statement he hopes to use his new role to encourage others to make positive changes and live an active lifestyle.
Warsaw, known as the Orthopedics Capital of the World, is focusing on collaborating with stakeholders across the region.
“We’ve got a community that’s come together for the benefit of the community. We will walk into a meeting and we’ll take our company hat off or our day job hat off,” Jim Lancaster, Zimmer Biomet’s global headquarters executive director. “We’ll just lean into what we’re trying to do collectively, whether that’s the city of Warsaw, Kosciusko County, Zimmer Biomet [or] Grace College. It doesn’t really matter…that’s a lot of the catalyst right now.”
Indiana Economic Development Corp. Chief Strategy Officer Ann Lathrop says the region’s collaboration and vision for its future have allowed the momentum to accelerate.
“Companies want to move fast, so if you’re not already collaborating…that falls to your customer or the company, which is a competitive disadvantage,” Lathrop said. “If you look at all of the rankings that are coming out of this area, especially in best place to work, best place to afford a house, those are all critically important things as you’re looking to grow a business and grow community.”