The Brance Beamon Award was recently presented to Tom Cook, President of Copeland, Cook, Taylor & Bush, P.A. In her award presentation, Donna Sims, of BankPlus, told guests that this award is “sometimes known as the Madison County Goodwill Award....”

Criteria for this award requires that the recipient either live and/or work in Madison County, that he demonstrate through leadership the goals of the county and commit personal time and resources in a volunteer role, to improve the quality of life in Madison County. Sims stated that, “This year’s recipient had certainly done this and more, not just in the past year, but for many, many years.” Cook has served for 5 years on the Madison County Foundation Board whose focus is to bring continued economic development to the county. He was instrumental in the formation of the Northeast Madison County Community Action Group created to assist special needs areas in that community.

Cook has served on the boards of other organizations such as the Mississippi Automotive Manufacturers Association, Mississippi Easter Seals Society, and is a past president of the Mississippi Oil & Gas Lawyers Association. In 2004, he was appointed by Mississippi Governor, Haley Barbour, as a Commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. He currently serves as General Counsel for Southern Farm Bureau, Mississippi’s largest casualty insurance company.

The firm, of which Cook is a founding member and Of Counsel, currently employs over 150 people in its Ridgeland office. Also, he is presently at the helm of Copeland, Cook’s 600 Concourse building project on Highland Colony Parkway in Ridgeland, MS.

Our sincere congratulations to Tom on receiving the Brance Beamon Award.