Indiana Tech purchases Building 36 on Electric Works campus

Indiana Tech has completed its purchase of Building 36 on the Electric Works campus in Fort Wayne, a key step in establishing a home for Junction 36, the university’s new advanced manufacturing innovation center initiative. Indiana Tech first announced the Junction 36 initiative in August 2024 when it received a 5-year, $21 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. in support of the project. Funds from the Lilly Endowment grant helped underwrite the $1.5 million purchase cost of the building.

Building 36 is located on the west end of the Electric Works campus, at the corner of College and Wall Streets. Indiana Tech anticipates a timeframe of 18-24 months for turning the building into the home of Junction 36 and its associated services and facilities.

Junction 36 is comprised of three central components:

• Transformation of Building 36 on the Electric Works campus into a center for HardTech and advanced manufacturing innovation that will help grow local companies by connecting them to university-led research, development, and training. It will provide training related to Industry 4.0, business assistance for small-to-large organizations, spaces for business innovation teams and startups, and a variety of event spaces to host community gatherings as part of the innovation ecosystem at Electric Works and throughout Northeast Indiana. Under the leadership of Indiana Tech, Building 36 will facilitate and include:
  • Research and development
  • Testing and prototyping
  • Small batch production
  • Workforce training
  • Creator space/maker space
  • Automation innovation and development
  • Enterprise support services

• The Talent Connection, a program that will provide unique learning experiences that connect talent to the community in ways that create strong bonds and lead to enhanced talent attraction and retention. The program includes significantly expanded student service learning for Indiana Tech and other regional students, a new Fellows program focused on keeping top talent in the region and assigning Indiana Tech students as project partners and mentors for Amp Lab high school students.
  
  The Talent Connection Fellowship will recruit outstanding student leaders from the region and across the country to address larger problem-solving around the region’s most complex issues. Challenges will be submitted to the Fellows by area companies, nonprofits, civic organizations and communities for the development of solutions over a 1–2-year time period of collaborative work by the Fellows team.
  
• Public Workshop, a program to help diverse learners and entrepreneurs access support and overcome systemic barriers to advancing their education. Public Workshop will work to bring the benefits of the Indiana Tech initiative to wider regional audiences, helping more area residents and entrepreneurs reach their full potential by connecting them to a diverse set of resources. Working with partners around the region, Public Workshop will connect learners and entrepreneurs with wrap-around services such as early childhood education, affordable housing, training pathway guidance, and resources for personal health.

Junction 36 Executive Director Nate Cheviron commented, “The purchase of Building 36 at Electric Works is an exciting step in our development of the Junction 36 initiative. With a wide range of partners, we’ve already begun laying the groundwork for a project that will enable us to drive innovation, collaboration, and economic growth in our region. Both at Electric Works and at our main campus, we’ll be helping industry and education converge to create lasting impact.”

“As Northeast Indiana’s innovation district, Electric Works is the right place to realize Indiana Tech’s vision of Junction 36. We are pleased to partner with President Einolf and the Indiana Tech team to leverage our investment and secure the support of the Lilly Endowment to impact innovation, education, and workforce development in the region,” said Jeff Kingsbury, chief customer officer for Ancora, the lead developer of Electric Works.

For more information about Junction 36, Indiana Tech and Electric Works, please visit indianatech.edu and fortwayneelectricworks.com.