Editing Fort Wayne, Indiana (section)

==Economy==
In 2017, the [[Fort Wayne metropolitan area]] had a [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) of $25.7 billion. The top four industries were manufacturing ($8.1B), health care ($2.54B), retail trade ($1.4B), and finance and insurance ($1.3B). Government, if it had been a private industry, would have tied for third, generating $1.4 billion.<ref>{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Leininger |date=June 17, 2018 |url=http://www.news-sentinel.com/news/local-news/2018/06/17/focus-2018-even-in-a-robust-fort-wayne-economy-some-segments-are-growing-faster-than-others/ |title=FOCUS 2018: Even in a robust Fort Wayne economy, some segments are growing faster than others |work=The News-Sentinel |access-date=December 23, 2018}}</ref>

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, eased travel from Fort Wayne to other booming industrial centers along the Great Lakes, such as [[Chicago]], [[Detroit]], [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]], and [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]]. Throughout the early and mid-20th century, manufacturing dominated the city's economic landscape. From 1900 to 1930, Fort Wayne's industrial output expanded by 747 percent, with total production valued at $95 million in 1929, up from $11 million in 1899.{{Sfn|Beatty|2006|p = 89}} The total workforce also increased from 18,000 in 1900 to nearly 50,000 in 1930.{{Sfn|Beatty|2006|p = 89}}

[[File:The_landing_in_downtown_fort_wayne.jpg|thumb|left|The Landing is a cluster of historic buildings in downtown Fort Wayne that the city began repurposing into [[commercial real estate|commercial]] and [[residential real estate]] in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-10 |title=Fort Wayne announces $20 million development at The Landing in downtown |url=https://www.wboi.org/government/2024-09-09/fort-wayne-announces-20-million-development-at-the-landing-in-downtown |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=WBOI - NPR News & Diverse Music in Northeast Indiana |language=en}}</ref>]]

Companies that had a significant presence in the city include [[Dana Holding Corporation]], [[Falstaff Brewing Corporation]],<ref>{{cite news |date=November 9, 1989 |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/11/09/falstaff-brewery-closing-in-ft-wayne/ |title=Falstaff Brewery closing in Ft. Wayne |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=December 24, 2013}}</ref> [[Fruehauf Corporation]], [[General Electric]], [[International Harvester]], [[Magnavox]], [[Old Crown Brewing Corporation]], and [[Tokheim]], among several others, producing goods such as refrigerators, washing machines, automatic phonographs, meat packing products, televisions, garbage disposals, automotive parts and motors, trailers, gasoline pumps, trucks, beer, tents and awnings.<ref>WPA Writers' Program, ''Indiana, a Guide to the Hoosier State'' (1941) p. 195.</ref> [[Magnet wire]] was an especially important export for the city. In 1960, Fort Wayne companies supplied nearly 90 percent of North America's magnet wire market.{{Sfn|Beatty|2006|p = 352-353}}

[[File:Manship's Lincoln 1.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Abraham Lincoln: The Hoosier Youth]]'' stands in front of [[Lincoln Financial Group]]'s downtown offices.]]

The 1970s and 1980s were times of economic depression in Fort Wayne, when 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]].{{Sfn|Beatty|2006|p = 116}} At the same time, General Electric also downsized much of its more than 10,000-person workforce.<ref>{{cite news |first=Kevin |last=Leininger |date=May 6, 2014 |url=http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140506/NEWS/320139131/0/SEARCH |title=GE looking to demolish some of old Broadway campus |work=The News-Sentinel |access-date=May 11, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628095707/http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20140506%2FNEWS%2F320139131%2F0%2FSEARCH |archive-date=June 28, 2014}}</ref> Amid other area plant closures and downsizing, coupled with the [[early 1980s recession]], the city lost 30,000 jobs and reached a 12.1 percent unemployment rate.{{Sfn|Beatty|2006|p = 134}} The arrival of [[General Motors]] in 1987 helped fill the void from shuttered manufacturers and aided in the area's recovery, employing 3,000 at its [[Fort Wayne Assembly]].{{Sfn|Beatty|2006|p = 135}} In 2024, General Motors was the largest manufacturer in the city, employing 4,320.<ref name="Major Employers">{{cite web |year=2024 |url=https://www.greaterfortwayneinc.com/economic-development/doing-business/major-employers/ |title=Top Employers in Fort Wayne and Allen County |publisher=Greater Fort Wayne Inc. |access-date=September 9, 2024}}</ref> The plant assembles [[GMC Sierra]] and [[Chevrolet Silverado]] regular and double cab light- and heavy-duty pickup trucks.

Through the 1990s and into the 2000s, the city diversified its economy; manufacturing now employs 16.9 percent of Allen County's workforce.<ref name="Workforce & Employment" /> Other 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).<ref name="Workforce & Employment" /> The leisure and hospitality sector has especially grown, with 5.8 million visitors spending $545 million in 2013, a 4.3 percent increase over the previous year.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jaclyn |last=Goldsborough |date=February 5, 2015 |url=http://news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20150205/BUSINESS/150209810/1010 |title=Tourism in Fort Wayne, Allen County increases |work=The News-Sentinel |access-date=February 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208033944/http://news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20150205%2FBUSINESS%2F150209810%2F1010 |archive-date=February 8, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The city is a center for the [[defense industry]], employing thousands at such companies as [[BAE Systems Inc.|BAE Systems]] (1,150), [[L3Harris]] (888), [[Raytheon Technologies]] (950), and the [[Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base]] (423).<ref name="theallianceonline2012" />

[[File:Electric Works, Do it Best, Broadway District, SE corner, Fort Wayne, IN 2024-04-12.jpg|thumb|left|[[Do it Best]] corporate headquarters at Electric Works. In 2022, Do it Best was the largest [[privately held company]] in the state of Indiana, with US$5.5 billion in revenue.<ref>{{cite web |last=Carnes |first=Terry |title=Largest Indiana Private Companies |url=https://www.ibj.com/data?/d/58/largest-indiana-private-companies |date=June 8, 2023 |work=[[Indianapolis Business Journal]] |access-date=May 20, 2024}}</ref>]]

Despite economic diversification, the city was significantly impacted by the [[Great Recession]]. According to a report from [[Pew Research Center]], the city lost nearly a quarter of its manufacturing jobs and 11% of its economic status between 2000 and 2014.<ref>{{cite web |year=2016 |url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/05/11/americas-shrinking-middle-class-a-close-look-at-changes-within-metropolitan-areas/#changes-in-the-economic-status-of-metropolitan-areas-from-2000-to-2014 |title=America's Shrinking Middle Class: A Close Look at Changes Within Metropolitan Areas |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=May 12, 2016}}</ref> Economic Innovation Group's 2016 Distressed Communities Index Report ranked Fort Wayne among the most unequal large cities in the U.S. in terms of linking economic opportunities to its distressed [[ZIP code]]s. {{As of|2017}}, Allen County's labor force was 180,637 with an unemployment rate of 2.5 percent.<ref name="Workforce & Employment">{{cite web |year=2014 |url=http://www.greaterfortwayneinc.com/business-advocacy/annual-labor-force |title=Annual Labor Force |publisher=Greater Fort Wayne Inc. |access-date=May 12, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511215230/http://www.greaterfortwayneinc.com/business-advocacy/annual-labor-force |archive-date=May 11, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2017 |url=http://www.stats.indiana.edu/profiles/profiles.asp?scope_choice=a&county_changer=18003 |title=Allen County, Indiana |publisher=STATS Indiana |access-date=May 29, 2017}}</ref>

Companies based in Fort Wayne include [[Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company|Brotherhood Mutual]], [[Do it Best]], [[Franklin Electric]], [[Genteq]], [[Global Van Lines]], [[Home Reserve]], [[American Electric Power#Indiana Michigan Power|Indiana Michigan Power]], [[K&K Insurance]], [[MedPro Group]], [[North American Van Lines]], [[Rea Magnet Wire]], [[Steel Dynamics]], [[Sweetwater Sound]], and [[Vera Bradley]]. Steel Dynamics is the only [[Fortune 500|''Fortune'' 500]] company headquartered in the city. Other prominent non-government employers include [[Parkview Health]], [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]], [[Lutheran Health Network]], [[Lincoln Financial Group]], and [[BFGoodrich]].<ref name="Major Employers" />

In 2024, [[Google]] announced plans to build a data center in Fort Wayne.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GOOGLE ANNOUNCES $2 BILLION DATA CENTER IN FORT WAYNE - City of Fort Wayne |url=https://www.cityoffortwayne.org/latest-news/5715-google-announces-2-billion-data-center-in-fort-wayne.html |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=www.cityoffortwayne.org}}</ref>