Broader economic opportunities now await five Buffalo Trace counties as part of the newly re-designated Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
The re-designation has been underway by the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, with support from the Central Ohio River Business Association, Norther Kentucky Port Authority and the states of Ohio and Kentucky since early 2014.
It was in March 2014 when the push began to expand the Port of Greater Cincinnati from a 26-mile boundary to include 226.5 miles of the Ohio River in 15 counties.
The new designation includes a seven-mile stretch of the Licking River in northern Kentucky. The three Buffalo Trace counties now included are Mason, Bracken and Lewis, along with Brown and Adams counties in Ohio.
The other counties included in the designation are Pendleton, Campbell, Kenton, Boone, Gallatin, Carroll and Trimble, along with Scioto, Clermont and Hamilton counties in Ohio.
According to officials, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued approval for the modification of the Port of Cincinnati 26-mile statistical boundary. The Army Corps Navigation and Civil Works Decision Support Center issued the approval of the expansion and the name change to the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The proposal was submitted in April 2014.
According to information issued Thursday, the expansion now makes the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky among the nation's busiest. It is estimated the change will move the area into the top 20 U.S. ports by annual freight tonnage and the second busiest inland U.S. port, as measured by the U.S. Army Corps.
The news is positive for the Maysville-Mason County Port Authority, according to chairman Kirk Clarke.
"We will still remain independent and it can only help our area. We think being involved with the Cincinnati authority will get us some national exposure," said Clarke.
Clarke said the local port authority has contracted with the Kentucky Transportation Center at the college of engineering at the University of Kentucky to conduct a marketing and economic analysis on Mason County. He said the information will be used to show industrial and business prospects what is available in the local area.
Local companies who already have a port presence on the Ohio River corridor include Crounse Corporation, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, DP&L's Stuart Station, Carmeuse Lime and Stone, Maysville Materials, and TTI.
City Manager Ray Young said the city is receiving inquiries about Maysville, since the Maysville-Mason County Port Authority, along with city and county management, decided to join the effort to expand the Port of Greater Cincinnati last March.
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