History of Fort Wayne, Indiana - Economy

Economy

Manufacturing is deeply rooted in Fort Wayne's economic history, dating to the earliest days of the city's growth as an important trade stop along the Wabash and Erie Canal. Railroads, introduced shortly after the canal's arrival, strengthened and eased travel from Fort Wayne to other booming industrial centers along the Great Lakes, such as Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, and Cleveland. Throughout the early and mid-20th century, manufacturing dominated the city's economic landscape. From 1900 to 1930, Fort Wayne's industrial output had expanded by 747 percent, with total production valued at $95 million in 1929, up from $11 million in 1899. The total workforce also increased dramatically, from 18,000 in 1900 to nearly 50,000 in 1930.

Firms with locations in the city included Dana Corporation, Fruehauf Corporation, General Electric, International Harvester, Magnavox, Old Crown Brewing Corporation, and Tokheim, among several others, producing such items as refrigerators, washing machines, automatic phonographs, meat-packing products, televisions, garbage disposals, automotive parts and motors, trailers, gasoline pumps, trucks, beer, tents and awnings. Magnet wire production became an especially vital component to the city's economy. In 1960, Fort Wayne was at the center of the United States magnet wire industry, home to New Haven Wire and Cable Company, Phelps Dodge, Rea Magnet Wire, Superior Essex, and a wire operation at Fort Wayne's General Electric plant, producing nearly 90 percent of North America's magnet wire.

The 1970s and 1980s were times of economic depression in Fort Wayne. As much of the city's manufacturing foundation eroded and the blue-collar workforce shrank, Fort Wayne joined several other cities reeling economically within the Rust Belt. The biggest blow to the city's economy came September 27, 1982 when International Harvester announced it would close its Fort Wayne assembly plant, which had employed 10,600 at its peak. Amid other area plant closures, coupled with the early 1980s recession, the city lost 30,000 jobs and had reached a 12.1 percent unemployment rate. General Motors' arrival to Allen County in 1987 helped fill the void left by International Harvester and aided in the area's recovery, employing 3,000.

Through the 1990s and into the 2000s, the city continued to diversify its economy; manufacturing now employs 16.9 percent of Allen County's workforce. Other important sectors include distribution, transportation, and logistics (23.1 percent), health care (17.9 percent), professional and business services (12.1 percent), leisure and hospitality (11.1 percent), and financial services (6.3 percent). The leisure and hospitality sector has especially grown, with 5.4 million tourists spending more than $415 million in Fort Wayne in 2006. The city has become a center for the defense contracting industry, employing thousands in the city at such companies as BAE Systems (1,015), ITT Exelis (1,203), and Raytheon Systems (950). In 2011, the county's workforce was 179,007 with an unemployment rate of 9.1 percent.

Fort Wayne serves as headquarters for such companies as Do It Best, Genteq, Indiana Michigan Power, Medical Protective, Rea Magnet Wire, Sirva, Steel Dynamics, Sweetwater Sound, and Vera Bradley. Steel Dynamics is the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in the city, ranking 318th.

According to the Fort Wayne–Allen County Economic Development Alliance, as of February 2013, the ten largest employers in the county were: