By John Urbahns
Division Director, Community Development

Joel Harter, owner and CEO of Summit Brands, and his family have had a commitment to our city since its founding in Fort Wayne in 1958. Recently, Summit Brands took that commitment one step further by not only expanding locally but also by taking on the redevelopment of a brownfield site. On October 10, Summit Brands held a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating this expansion with the opening of their new 100,000 square foot distribution facility off of Conestoga Drive.

Summit Brands didn't just take the property and make it acceptable; by developing the project under LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards, they decided to make it exceptional. LEED projects require sacrifices of both time and money, but by developing this facility under tight environmental restrictions, Summit Brands has demonstrated that sustainability can be a worthwhile endeavor. As a result of the project, multiple steps were taken to reach LEED standards including, but not limited to, the recycling of 605,180 pounds of metal, the installation of two high-efficiency thermo cycler units, and new efficient lighting.

The new space will allow Summit Brands to expand their business of marketing and selling highly effective and sustainable consumer cleaning products that solve the toughest rust stain, drain, laundry and appliance cleaning problems with guaranteed results. Top selling brands for the company include Super Iron Out®, Dishwasher Magic, Disposer Care, Drain Out®, White Brite®, Plink, and Woolite® At-Home Dry Cleaner.

Summit Brands and its executives had the desire to expand and grow in Fort Wayne, and to do so in an environmentally conscious manner. Partnerships with state and local government made much of this possible. The remediation for the property, which was once used to manufacture auto parts, was completed under the State of Indiana's Voluntary Remediation Program; the City of Fort Wayne awarded brownfield grants for both site assessment and remediation through the CEDIT Brownfield Grant Program. Since the property had been vacant for over a year, Summit Brands was eligible to receive a vacant building abatement from the City of Fort Wayne. A ten year tax phase-in was also provided on their real property investment.

The economic development tools of tax phase-ins and brownfield grants allowed Summit Brands the opportunity to do more than might have been possible on their own. The benefits to the public are great – a difficult-to-redevelop brownfield site has been cleaned up and returned to the tax rolls, and a Fort Wayne company has expanded and added new jobs.

As a part of the local business community, Summit Brands' contributions to the Fort Wayne economy have made our city a more desirable place to live. On behalf of the City of Fort Wayne, we congratulate Summit Brands on their new facility, but more importantly, thank them for their continued commitment to our community.