‘Rural Counties Day’ held at Capitol, ‘Rural Legislative Champion Award’ renamed after Rep. Payne

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Rural Counties Day Planning Committee and Rep. Bobby Payne, R-Palatka hosted “Rural Counties Day” to “showcase rural communities’ contributions to the state and educate lawmakers on the unique needs of those communities.”

Officials from 28 counties participated in the event at the capitol which had booths and exhibits staged throughout the courtyard. This marks the event’s sixth year and the largest one to date, according to a press release.

Payne said this event allows participants to “showcase their communities, enhance network opportunities and meet with members of the Florida legislature to gain support for issues in their county.”

“I am excited once again about the opportunity to bring people together from Rural counties throughout the state for Rural Counties Day,” Payne said.

Payne hopes the event will continue to highlight the “vital needs and importance” of rural Florida.

This year’s event also included a reception on Wednesday evening. At the reception, the committee presented Payne with the “Rural Legislative Champion Award.”

The committee announced that moving forward, the award would be renamed the “Bobby Payne Florida Rural Counties Advocacy Award,” in recognition of Payne’s “unwavering commitment to serving rural communities across Florida.”

“Throughout his time in office, Representative Payne has been a powerful voice for Rural Florida, ensuring that our communities’ needs were recognized, and that significant progress was made toward addressing those needs,” said Darryl Register, executive director of the Baker County Chamber of Commerce and member of the Rural Counties Day Planning Committee.

Counties participating in the 2024 Rural Counties Day included Baker, Bradford, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Holmes, Jackson, Lafayette, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Okeechobee, Putnam, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla and Washington counties.

Sponsors for this year’s event included Florida Power & Light, Columbia County BEDC, Capital City Bank, Comcast, Conexon, Duke Energy, North Florida Professional Services Inc., DHM Melvin Engineering, Liberty Partners of Tallahassee LLC, Mosaic, North Florida Economic Development Partnership, Opportunity Florida, Seminole Electric Cooperative Inc., Clay Electric Cooperative Inc., Florida Economic Development Council, Jones Edmunds Engineering and Consulting Services, and Florida Regional Councils Association.