The Mo-Kan Regional Council has been honored for its effort to help other service agencies.

Mo-Kan, which serves six counties in two states, received the 2009 Innovation Award by the National Association of Development Organizations.

“We think a lot of NADO,” said Tom Bliss, executive director at Mo-Kan. “For us, it was a pretty prestigious award.”

Mr. Bliss said Mo-Kan was honored with the award for its efforts to provide professional training to other agencies in the area states and to university centers in a six-state area.

“This is the first time we’ve done it,” he said of the training workshop. “The staff put a lot of work into putting things in place. It’s obviously nice to be recognized for that.”

NADO is a Washington, D.C.-based association that promotes programs and policies that strengthen local governments, communities and economies through regional cooperation, program delivery and comprehensive strategies. The association’s Innovation Award recognizes regional development organizations for improving the economic and community competitiveness.

Mo-Kan will receive its award at the association’s annual conference in Chicago.

Jennifer Hall can be reached

at jennhall@npgco.com.