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Tallahassee, Florida - Jeff Hendry, Director for the Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University and Executive Director of the North Florida Economic Development Partnership (NFEDP) received the distinguished Eunice Sullivan Economic Development Professional of the Year award at the Florida Economic Development Council’s 2024 Annual Conference held at the Sawgrass Marriot in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida on April 15-17, 2024.
The Eunice Sullivan Economic Development Professional of the Year award is given annually in recognition of the achievements of an outstanding economic developer within the state of Florida. The award was first given in 1985 and was renamed in 1991 to honor Eunice Sullivan for her dedication and commitment to the economic development profession and the Florida Economic Development Council.
In their press release, The Florida Economic Development Council stated, “Jeff has been making a positive impact throughout Florida for close to 30 years and has given this industry everything he has in hopes of creating a better tomorrow. Rural Florida is Jeff’s passion and his efforts have led to a consortium of 32 rural counties under the umbrella of the Florida Rural Economic Development Association (FREDA). Additionally, Jeff leads the officially designated North Florida Rural Area of Opportunity – 14 rural counties marketing their economic strengths and building professional capacity for quality jobs, sustaining wages and private capital investment. The NFEDP has provided over 45,000 technical assistance hours focused on recruitment and expansion of business and all related aspects of project development. This technical assistance has resulted in over $165 million of infrastructure grant funds, $200 million of private capital investment and more than 400 professional development scholarships to expand the knowledge and capacity of often understaffed rural economic development organizations.”
In response to receiving this prestigious award, Jeff Hendry commented, “I am truly honored and humbled by this award. There is no better professional feeling than to be recognized at this level by your peers. While I receive this award with the greatest of joy and humility, the award is more a reflection and product of the commitment and dedication of our local Economic Development professionals in the North Florida Economic Development Partnership (NFEDP), the NFEDP Board of Directors, the Florida Rural Economic Development Association, and the professional staff support of those at the Florida Institute of Government at Florida State University—with special recognition of my colleague and dear friend Diane Scholz.”
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