The mysterious Electric Works Community Enhancement Fund

Hey Locals,

Today, we’re wrapping up our series on promises Electric Works made to Fort Wayne by addressing a reader’s question about an alleged “community benefit fund” the project was supposed to create.

We’re told this fund was part of an agreement between the City/City Council and the developers (RTM Ventures), and it was supposed to be a fund where the developers would contribute a certain amount of money per square footage of space leased on campus, which would be used to support other projects in Fort Wayne, particularly on the Southeast side. 

As we’ve previously reported: Electric Works was designed to benefit the entire community – not just a few corporate tenants. The extent to which this vision has come to fruition at this point (about five years into the 10-year vision) is still up for debate. 

That’s why this question was so interesting to us. Is there – or was there supposed to be – a philanthropic fund that directly supports neighborhoods? And if so, what’s the status of it?

To answer these questions, we spoke to several sources, including:

• Katy Silliman, former Senior Experience Director for Electric Works
• Alison Gerardot and Brad Little, Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne
• John Perlich, City of Fort Wayne Public Information Officer
• City Councilman Russ Jehl (R-2)

We also reached out to Electric Works representatives for comment, but have not yet heard back.

Here’s a quick overview of what we learned:

• An Electric Works Community Enhancement Fund (first mentioned in this 2023 Q&A* in The JG with Silliman) was seriously considered in the early years of the project. In the interview, Silliman says the fund “will be coming online in the next year.” 
• Silliman tells us the fund was supposed to be established, in part, to support community projects in Southeast Fort Wayne. It was also intended to help the neighborhoods immediately surrounding Electric Works as “a way to further the concept and vision of the project around it being a third and fourth place within the community.”
• An interesting side note: Electric Works investor Tim Ash also wanted to use his investment in the project to support Southeast Fort Wayne. A 2020 article* in The JG says the Ash Brokerage CEO “committed to reinvest any profits from his Electric Works investment in Southeast Fort Wayne.”

So how was the fund supposed to work?