Iron Horse Industrial Park received a 2025 Honoring Nations Award on Nov. 20, 2025, for expanding its capacity for economic development while prioritizing sustainable resource management.

Honoring Nations is a prestigious awards program of the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development based at Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. The program recognizes Native American tribes for impactful efforts to strengthen tribal governance. Iron Horse was one of six tribal organizations recognized nationwide.

Iron Horse is a 700-acre eco-industrial park located on Native American trust land in central Oklahoma. The park received its designation as a Foreign Trade Zone in 2015, allowing businesses located there to benefit from international trade advantages. Its layout provides tenants with direct access to both rail lines and the U.S. highway system.

“Iron Horse was created to diversify the revenue stream for the Tribe and to secure and protect sovereignty, self-governance and our people,” said Vedrana Milakovic, director of economic development.

The park was designed to recruit manufacturing companies interested in operating within a shared ecosystem. Companies are encouraged to work together by sharing resources, reducing waste, using shared warehouse space and transloading services, allowing goods to move efficiently between rail and truck transportation.

Portions of Iron Horse are also designated for renewable energy development, reinforcing the park’s focus on environmental sustainability.

“With today’s economic environment, uncertainty and excessive tariffs, it’s important to have reliable funding streams,” Milakovic said. “The impact of tariffs, rising food prices and increasing construction costs has caused many to look at how tribes, communities and companies can operate more sustainably. Tribes have always held that goal; therefore, we are recruiting domestic and international companies with which we can achieve synergy and share values related to sustainability.”

Milakovic described Iron Horse as a business-friendly environment that offers incentives difficult to find elsewhere.

“We want companies that contribute to our infrastructure and invest in developing our Tribe and surrounding community,” she said.

Milakovic shared that Iron Horse being selected as a 2025 Honoring Nations Award winner was meaningful to her and her team.

“Receiving the Honoring Nations Award tells us that what we are doing is different and right when it comes to diversifying our revenue streams for the Tribe,” she told the Hownikan. “The beauty of this recognition is that tribes can learn from one another and share knowledge, leading to a greater economic impact.”

Milakovic previously served as assistant director of economic development before recently stepping into the director role. She was born in Bosnia and raised in Sweden and began working for CPN in 2019.

“I was a student-athlete playing basketball at Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) during my undergraduate studies, and that played a role in bringing me to Shawnee,” Milakovic said.

After completing her undergraduate degree, she gained international trade and business operations experience at Retail Innovation HTT AB in Sweden. Milakovic returned to the United States to further her education, completing her master’s degree in international business at OBU.

Milakovic shared her vision for Iron Horse and the Nation’s economic development efforts with the Hownikan.

“Today, with AI, we are fostering innovation while improving quality of life for our Tribe and community members,” she said. “CPN continues to invest in initiatives, such as the education department and child development centers, which will carry the torch for future generations.”

Find Iron Horse Industrial Park online at ironhorsecpn.com.