We’ve spent considerable time in the climbing gym space lately, working with clients who are passionate about building communities around physical challenge and adventure. But when I stumbled upon Edwin Chow’s LinkedIn activity—bursting with energy, celebration, and an unmistakable enthusiasm for his gym and team—I knew there was something special happening at Summit City Climbing in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
So I reached out. What followed was one of those rare business conversations that leaves you inspired about what’s possible when entrepreneurship meets genuine community care.
The Birth Story: Persistence Through Bureaucracy
Like many entrepreneurial journeys, Summit City’s path to opening wasn’t straightforward. As Edwin explained during our call, Fort Wayne is “one of the fastest-growing cities in North America” and climbing is “one of the fastest-growing sports in the world,” making it unusual that the city didn’t already have a rock climbing gym.
It turns out there was a reason.
Edwin shared that several people had tried and failed to open climbing gyms in Fort Wayne before them. When they attempted it themselves, they quickly discovered why: regulatory hurdles that seemed insurmountable.
How bad was it? Try a five-month legal battle after the city shut them down unexpectedly.
“We were in this legal battle for about five months. It was around the rhetoric of how to classify our gym,” Edwin recounted, a bit of astonishment still evident in his voice.
The turning point came when they reached out to their state representative and Congress. Suddenly, with no structural changes to the gym, they were approved to open.
What’s remarkable is how they’ve transformed this struggle into part of their origin story—a testament to persistence that resonates throughout everything they do.
Edwin reflected that what was once a struggle has now become their “Genesis story” of how Fort Wayne finally got its climbing gym after a long legal battle.
And they’re taking those lessons forward—they’re already planning location number two, and Edwin’s first call will be to his Congressional contact. No more five-month battles if he can help it.
The "Hype Machine": Community as Marketing
What initially caught my attention on LinkedIn was what I called their “hype machine”—a vibrant energy around their gym that seemed to spill over into everything they posted. I was curious: was this a carefully crafted marketing strategy or something more organic?
The answer, according to Media Director Tyler Veit, was something beautifully authentic.
Tyler explained – with great pragmatism – that he knew they could only ride the initial excitement of being a new gym for so long before they would need something more sustainable. With their second location potentially a year or two away, they needed to “hit it a little differently.”
Their approach? Making the community itself the centerpiece of everything.
“Something I think we’ve been doing that’s getting people really excited is actually having our community involved—like actively involved within the marketing itself,” Tyler shared.
They’ve dubbed it their “scrapbook style” approach, where community members themselves become the focus of virtually every marketing piece they create. This approach champions their members and gives them a sense of ownership in the gym’s story.
This philosophy extends beyond social media into tangible symbols of belonging. They create custom patches for their fundraiser events that members proudly display on their gear.
Edwin explained that for each event, like their partnership with SCAN (Stop Child Abuse and Neglect), they create collectible patches that engage their community.
Tyler described it as a “traveling promotion” system. Members come to climb, get involved with the gym, and then carry their Summit City patches and gear to other climbing facilities they visit.
The result? Their members become ambassadors who carry the Summit City spirit wherever they go, proudly identifying Summit City as their home gym when asked by other climbers.
The Heart Behind the Hype
I had to ask: What’s truly driving this intense community focus? Is it a marketing tactic, or is there something deeper?
Tyler’s answer revealed a beautiful connection to climbing’s cultural roots:
“For me, I’m just really, really passionate about the sport. This community engagement is going to be our biggest weapon,” he explained.
Tyler traced this community focus back to climbing’s origins in the late 70s and early 80s, when the sport was considered too dangerous for mainstream sponsorship. Back then, climbing’s promotion happened organically through tight-knit communities of enthusiasts who supported each other.
For Tyler, their marketing approach honors this heritage. He believes that by bringing these community-centered values into the present and reworking the format slightly, they create something that resonates with experienced climbers while welcoming newcomers into the tradition.
Edwin’s answer came from an even more personal place:
“For me and all the owners—there’s three owners, I’m one of them—we all worked in non-profit space. So that’s our heart,” Edwin explained. “Service is at our hearts.”
This service mentality translates into how they approach community initiatives. Edwin made a clear distinction between what he sees as disingenuous charity work (simply putting out a donation can and sending a few emails) versus truly committing to causes.
Instead, Summit City goes all-in. They create all the content, videos, media press releases, and graphics for their nonprofit partners. Edwin acknowledged that this costs them significant money and resources, but he sees it as essential.
Having worked in nonprofits himself, Edwin understands that these organizations often lack the capacity for robust marketing campaigns. By putting their full community and marketing muscle behind these causes, Summit City creates something truly genuine and impactful.
The results speak for themselves. Despite not being a large facility, they’ve become the single largest barrel donor for Fort Wayne Community Harvest Food Bank and have collected over 500 pairs of shoes and a thousand socks for those in need.
Growing Their Own Talent
Another aspect that fascinated me was their approach to their marketing team. When Edwin mentioned they had high schoolers on staff, I had to know more.
“I used to be a teacher, so I love just developing people,” Edwin explained. “I literally tell them, ‘Hey, this is your space, do what you want with it.'”
Their approach to finding talent is refreshingly simple. Edwin looks for people who show initiative and genuine care for the gym. When someone comes to him with an idea for improvement, he invites them to demonstrate it. If they do well, he might create a role specifically tailored to their strengths and interests.
Recognizing the team’s youth, they’ve built in development opportunities through marketing classes that provide “language and maturity.” Edwin’s goal isn’t just to get work out of these young people—it’s to develop them into skilled professionals who will eventually move on to greater opportunities.
This investment in their people extends beyond the marketing team. During owner meetings, they proactively identify team members who deserve recognition or advancement, championing their achievements rather than waiting for them to ask for promotions.
The Marketing Hack You Didn't Expect
Before we ended our conversation, Edwin dropped a simple yet brilliant piece of advice:
“The best thing that you can give them for marketing is a selfie stick… It’s like the best marketing hack.”
Place a couple of selfie sticks in the corner of the gym, and members will naturally use them to capture videos of their climbs to share on social media—instant, authentic marketing that costs almost nothing.
The Lesson for All Marketers
What struck me most about Summit City’s approach is how they’ve made community not just a nice-to-have, but their core business strategy. They genuinely care about their people—members, staff, and broader community—and that authenticity shines through everything they do.
As I reflect on this conversation from my perspective as a marketing agency leader, it reinforces what I believe is true: the most powerful marketing doesn’t come from clever tactics or big budgets, but from creating something people genuinely want to be part of and talk about.
Summit City has found a way to “supercharge” their community. They’ve created a space where members become champions, staff become owners of their work, and the gym itself becomes a force for good in Fort Wayne.
In a world of increasingly sophisticated marketing technology, Summit City reminds us that the human element—connection, belonging, purpose—remains the most powerful differentiator of all.