Photo by Christopher Dacanay A barge travels on the Ohio River in the Steubenville area.

STEUBENVILLE — Support from local economic development leaders contributed to the creation of an agency within the Ohio Department of Development aimed at promoting economic growth on the Ohio River.

A years-long partnership of Ohio River-concerned stakeholders — including the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission and Jefferson County Port Authority — has produced advocacy and support that ultimately culminated in creation of the Ohio River Commission of Ohio through the state legislature.

Signed into law Jan. 2 by Gov. Mike DeWine, Senate Bill 54 created the nine-member commission, which will include the state directors of development, transportation and natural resources — or their designees - as well as six individuals representing the general public: Three appointed by the president of the Ohio Senate and the rest appointed by the speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

BHJ Executive Director Mike Paprocki said the commission will mirror the Ohio Rail Development Commission — having a professional staff that advocates for business owners and operators on the Ohio River, as opposed to the state’s rail infrastructure. ORCO will “bring a new voice to the table” in Ohio, where the river has had and continues to have an outstanding economic impact.

“Most of the Ohio River is Appalachian,” Paprocki said. “The majority of the (river) traffic was related to coal and energy. As we know, our coal plants are being retired. We’re moving away from fossil fuels like coal, so the commodity flows on the Ohio River are changing. There’s a time for opportunity, and the time is now. In my mind, (ORCO) is another economic tool to revitalize Appalachian Ohio.”

Paprocki has been BHJ’s executive director since 2015, an era when terminals all functioned as “individual voices.” Paprocki said this made prioritizing and planning capital expenditures difficult for the Ohio Department of Transportation, which had to field hundreds of distinct requests.

Following the example of the Central Ohio River Business Association, which connects the maritime community throughout the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, BHJ and several other parties came together in 2019 to form a partnership — the Ohio River Coalition of Ohio — that represented Ohio River interests from East Liverpool to Cincinnati.

In its first year, the coalition successfully advocated for changes to the Ohio Department of Transportation Maritime Assistance Program funding mechanism for Ohio port authorities, which the coalition felt unfairly favored Lake Erie interests, Paprocki said. The coalition simultaneously obtained state dollars to perform an Ohio River economic impact study.

Around late 2023, Paprocki said, the coalition began looking at its priorities, with some members looking to change the Maritime Assistance Program so private businesses could more easily procure available federal funding. Having access to state dollars would better position them to leverage federal dollars as well, he added.

Opening Maritime Assistance Program funds up to Ohio River projects was a major goal for Robert Naylor, executive director of the Jefferson County Port Authority — a coalition-member agency. Ahead of SB54, Naylor submitted written testimony to the Ohio Legislature describing why he believes ORCO’s creation would be beneficial.

In a Nov. 12 letter to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, Naylor noted that the Ohio River spans 450 miles along Ohio’s western and southern borders. At nearly 1,000 miles long, the river touches six other states before dumping into the Mississippi River, which touches another 10 states.

Three of the nation’s top statistical inland ports encompass the river: The Mid-Ohio Valley Port, the Port of Huntington Tristate and the Ports of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Mid-Ohio Valley Port, which lies between the ports of Pittsburgh and Huntington, is the 17th largest port in the nation and the largest inland port.

In 2019, Naylor stated, the river generated $26.5 billion in economic impact through 135 different marine terminals, supported more than 100,000 jobs and transported more than 40 million tons of cargo in and out of Ohio — which ranks eighth in the nation for tons of cargo handled.

Recent ODOT studies display how over half of Ohio’s maritime activity is derived from the Ohio River, Naylor states. Even so, the river lacks a central agency to act in its interest. Lake Erie has the Lake Erie Commission, he adds, even though the lake and Ohio River have direct access to global maritime markets.

Impacts and issues on the Ohio River — which sees such interstate commerce — cannot be “processed in a vacuum” Naylor states.

“Recent studies by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the soon-to-be-released Ohio Maritime Plan will show the impact and benefits derived from the Ohio River are greatly unknown or misunderstood and greatly underutilized,” Naylor stated. “Over the years, maritime funds made available to Ohio’s maritime industry through ODOT’s Maritime Assistance Program have overwhelmingly funded Lake Erie projects, with only a fraction of those funds reaching businesses on the Ohio River.”

Naylor added, “In a border county such as Jefferson County, the potential regional impact of the Ohio River Commission of Ohio to enable outreach to the neighboring states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia presents a potential catalytic economic opportunity for our county, the surrounding region and Ohio.”

On Nov. 21, members of the Jefferson County Port Authority board voted unanimously to fund up to $4,000 to contract with lobbying firm Sunday Creek Horizon for seven months to push for ORCO’s creation in the legislature. Other coalition members helped finance the firm’s $35,000 proposal.

The port authority and BHJ participated in a coalition subgroup that drafted legislation prior to ORCO’s creation, Paprocki said. Other contributors included the Columbiana County Port Authority, Central Ohio Business Association, Southeastern Ohio Port Authority and Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation.

What remains to be seen for ORCO is its funding and appointments. While funding to support the commission, its staff and operations would come from DeWine’s biennium budget — which Paprocki said is looking like a “very positive” prospect — the Senate president and speaker of the House’s appointments are yet undetermined, although they must be Ohio residents or represent businesses licensed or registered in the state.

Naylor, during December’s board of directors meeting, noted the importance of the appointments. It will be necessary to have a “very delicate” balance in representation between commercial activity on the river and travel and tourism, he said, adding that Monroe County Land Bank board President Taylor Abbott was drafting a letter, thanking DeWine for the legislation and emphasizing the importance of proper appointments.