Cincinnati, Ohio – The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) was presented with a 2017 Achievement Award by the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) at its 51st Annual Conference in Monterey, California last night.

OKI was honored with NARC’s Major Metro Award for an innovative program it developed in partnership with the Central Ohio River Business Association (CORBA), the region’s private maritime commerce association. The program, the Central Ohio River Information System or CORIS, is an interactive app that identifies key features of the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

“OKI understands that maritime freight, a topic in the national spotlight with today’s visit from President Trump, is vital to our region’s economic success, and CORIS is a phenomenal program developed by OKI that provides valuable assistance to all who do or seek to do business on our waterways,” said OKI CEO Mark Policinski. “We are honored to be recognized among our peer agencies nationwide, and we are proud to partner with CORBA in their efforts to advance commerce across the region.”

CORIS centralizes information that may be of importance to potential site selectors, users, investors, elected officials and industry members. The app, via a detailed filter, can find businesses with covered storage or the location and name of a vessel in the harbor, for example, and provide instant access to business contact information.

CORIS is a product of close collaboration, with CORBA initiating an intensive surveying process of all 142 public and private dock terminals and OKI leveraging the talents of its internationally-recognized geographic information system (GIS) team. CORIS is accessible on CORBA’s website at centralohioriverbusinessassociation.com/coris/.

“The Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky span 19 counties across three states, and thanks to OKI’s expertise, we have a single, user-friendly inventory of all port assets,” said Eric Thomas, CORBA Executive Director and General Manager of Benchmark River and Rail Terminals, LLC. “We already boast the busiest inland port in the U.S., and CORIS will only aid in our growth.”

OKI is a council of local governments, business organizations and community groups committed to developing collaborative strategies, plans and programs to improve the quality of life and economic development potential of the Tri-State.