Three hundred local leaders packed into Fort Wayne’s Clyde Theatre on Friday, and Indiana Governor Mike Braun was in the room. The Indiana Business Journal officially fired up its nine-city Innovate Indiana event series, picking Northeast Indiana as the launching pad for one of the most ambitious regional conversations the state has seen in years.
Fort Wayne: The Right City to Start This Conversation
Fort Wayne is not just another Indiana city right now. It is the fastest-growing large city in the entire Midwest, and that reputation alone made it the natural first stop.
U.S. Census Bureau data now confirms Fort Wayne is also the 26th fastest-growing large city in the entire country. Since 2020, the city has added 11,285 residents, a 4.3 percent increase that puts neighboring cities like Indianapolis and Evansville well behind.
Fort Wayne’s 2025 population estimate stands at 275,203. It added 2,173 new residents in the last year alone, the second-largest numeric gain in the whole state, trailing only fast-growing Westfield.
Mayor Sharon Tucker summed up the city’s momentum with confidence. “Our population growth speaks to the outstanding residents, neighborhoods, and businesses that make Fort Wayne special,” she said. “We continue to move in the right direction with confidence knowing that our best days are ahead of us.”
What 300 Local Leaders Heard at the Clyde Theatre
The event ran from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Clyde Theatre on Bluffton Road, giving leaders a rare face-to-face setting with state government.
Gerry Dick, the widely recognized host of Inside Indiana Business, explained why the gathering carried real weight for Northeast Indiana. Communities outside Indianapolis often feel overlooked in state-level conversations, and this event was built to change that feeling.
“So many times, communities around the state feel as though everything is tilted toward central Indiana or toward Indianapolis,” Dick said. “This is a chance where Indianapolis, the state, the governor is coming to Fort Wayne, to Northeast Indiana.”
The agenda was wide-ranging and tackled issues that matter directly to working people. Topics on the table included:
- Economic development and business expansion strategies
- Workforce development and aligning education with employer needs
- Housing affordability and addressing homelessness
- Energy, infrastructure, and innovation across the region
This is the first time in the series’ five-year history that an Indiana governor has committed to headlining every single event in the lineup.
IBJ Media CEO Nate Feltman called the discussions “a catalyst for leaders to shape the future.” The series is co-sponsored by CareSource, Indiana University, Old National Bank, the Indiana Chamber, and the State of Indiana.
AI, Homelessness, and Workforce Take Center Stage
Governor Braun did not play it safe during his 30-minute moderated session. He went straight at the big issues facing Indiana’s economy.
“Half of our economic growth across the country is based upon AI,” Braun told the Fort Wayne audience. “If you dismiss that, you’re kind of sticking your head in the sand on what’s driving economies.”
He also took a direct moment to applaud Fort Wayne’s growth numbers. His words landed with the crowd. “That kind of dynamism is going to radiate through your region,” Braun said.
Homelessness is a topic Fort Wayne is very actively wrestling with at this exact moment. The city is in the middle of planning a new Homeless Resource Center, a proposed 24/7 low-barrier shelter near East Washington Boulevard designed to serve up to 150 people daily, including men, women, families with children, and couples. The debate over its downtown location has stirred strong reactions from business owners in recent weeks.
Braun signed a law in April banning public sleeping and camping on state and government property, set to take effect July 1. His stated goal is to connect homeless individuals to social service networks rather than lead with criminal penalties as the first response.
Childcare and workforce upskilling also made their way into the discussion. Braun’s 2026 Freedom and Opportunity agenda calls for expanding programs like Power Up Indiana, which helps workers move into higher-paying roles through targeted skills training.
| Key Discussion Topic | Why It Matters to Fort Wayne Right Now |
|---|---|
| Artificial Intelligence | Driving significant share of U.S. economic growth |
| Homelessness | Active debate over a new downtown shelter location |
| Workforce Development | Fastest-growing Midwest city needs skilled talent fast |
| Housing Affordability | Rising rents pushing low-income families toward instability |
| Energy and Infrastructure | Long-term foundation for sustaining regional growth |
Eight More Cities to Go, and the Stakes Keep Rising
Fort Wayne was only the start. Eight more Indiana cities are lined up to host their own Innovate Indiana events throughout the rest of the year.
The full nine-city series includes:
- Bloomington
- Evansville
- Fort Wayne (completed May 15)
- Indianapolis
- Muncie
- New Albany
- South Bend/Elkhart
- Terre Haute
- Valparaiso
Each stop will bring Governor Braun directly to business leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and investors in their own communities. That regional approach marks a clear and intentional shift in how economic development is being handled under his leadership.
The series is built around a straightforward idea: Indiana’s next chapter of growth will not be written only in Indianapolis. It will come from every corner of the state, from the river cities to the college towns to the manufacturing hubs that make up the backbone of the Hoosier economy.
For a city that once carried the weight of a fading industrial past, Friday in Fort Wayne felt like something different. Three hundred people in one room, a governor talking AI and jobs and homelessness with real urgency, and a city that is growing faster than almost anywhere in the Midwest. That energy is hard to fake, and it is even harder to ignore. Whether the rest of Indiana’s eight cities can match that momentum is the question this series will answer, one lunch table at a time. What do you think Indiana’s biggest priority should be right now? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
