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City of Fairfield (Ohio) and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority chosen as this year’s external recipients, with four individuals selected for the company’s internal award
CINCINNATI – Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky recently announced the recipients of their 2025 Economic Development Awards, which recognize communities and individuals who continually support growth and economic development efforts in the region. These awards started in 2023 and are presented annually in the companies’ Ohio and Kentucky service territories.
Meet the recipients
Duke Energy’s 2025 Economic Development Award recipients include:
- City of Fairfield (Ohio), which received the Duke Energy Partner Achievement Award due to its efforts to partner with Duke Energy on many projects in 2025 and continued development of other projects over the past five years, including growth with Koch Foods and Pacific Manufacturing.
- The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority (The Port), which received the Duke Energy Visionary Achievement Award. The Port has been an instrumental partner in projects like Givaudan in Reading (Ohio) and continues to work with Duke Energy on opportunities for how the company can support infrastructure needs to serve future customers, review existing sites and opportunities, and collaborate on strategic plans for future development.
- Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky’s team, including Martin Rios, Dina Riemann and Andre Rose in transactional legal support, and Roger Zimmerman, an electric distribution planner, were awarded with the companies’ Energizing Economic Development Award for their efforts in supporting key projects and helping to assist in economic development requests.
By the numbers
Last year, the Duke Energy Economic Development team worked in conjunction with state, regional and economic development partners to secure new company investments, which helped recruit more than $548 million in new capital investment and over 1,000 jobs across the region.
In addition, Duke Energy’s site readiness program drives regional growth by identifying, assessing and improving high-potential industry sites to make them more competitive. Since the program began, 42 sites in southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky have been evaluated, with strong results of success.
Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky’s partnerships with REDI Cincinnati, the region’s leading economic development group, and BE NKY Growth Partnership have been instrumental in the recent economic growth the region has seen.
What they’re saying
“Through the efforts of our economic development team and local partners, we’ve been able to bring national and global organizations to our region. It gives us great pride to have supported these efforts, which ultimately landed opportunities for our communities to grow and prosper.” – Amy Spiller, President, Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky
“Duke Energy’s recognition of these award recipients reflects a deep commitment to advancing economic development across the Cincinnati region. Their support elevates the communities and partners whose work is driving impactful growth, expanding opportunity and shaping a stronger future for our region.” – Kimm Lauterbach, President & CEO, REDI Cincinnati
Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky
Duke Energy Ohio & Kentucky, subsidiaries of Duke Energy, provide electric service to 910,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in a 3,000-square-mile service area, and natural gas service to 560,000 customers in a 2,650-square-mile service area, in Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America’s largest energy holding companies. The company’s electric utilities serve 8.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 55,100 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas utilities serve 1.7 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky.
Duke Energy is executing an ambitious energy transition, keeping customer reliability and value at the forefront as it builds a smarter energy future. The company is investing in major electric grid upgrades and cleaner generation, including natural gas, nuclear, renewables and energy storage.
More information is available at duke-energy.com and the Duke Energy News Center. Follow Duke Energy on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit illumination for stories about the people and innovations powering our energy transition.
Contact: Matt Martin
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
X: @DukeEnergyOH_KY