CORBA Awards $1,000 Scholarship

The Central Ohio River Business Association (CORBA) has awarded a $1,000 scholarship to a Northern Kentucky University student.

Matthew Weaver, a student in NKU’s Management 309 Logistics and Distribution class, won the award. The scholarship was open to all students in the class. Students were asked to write about the importance of the inland river system as a whole and specifically to the Cincinnati and northern Kentucky region.

Essays were judged by CORBA’s education and scholarship committee.

One of CORBA’s mission objectives is to work with local academic institutions to promote education and career opportunities to college students enrolled in supply chain curricula.

NKU started its supply chain management program in 2017.  CORBA has worked with NKU since that time, and it has pressed NKU to incorporate the Ohio River’s role as a vital part of the regional supply chain, CORBA Executive Director Eric Thomas said. One goal of the scholarship program is to expose tomorrow’s supply chain professionals to the inland river system.

The program allows CORBA a means to “pay it forward” on behalf of CORBA’s members, Thomas said. The scholarship proceeds are funded in part by the annual CORBA golf outing.  The next golf outing is scheduled to take place April 17 and is sold out.

“Before this class I haven’t really taken the opportunity to look at the waterways and realize how much cargo is really [on the Ohio River],” Weaver said. “Being in supply chain, there is a really big competitive advantage to being able to use the inland waterways. This scholarship contest really put into perspective how much opportunity is out there.”