The North Country is a fascinating and exciting region.

Sure, other regions have untold natural beauty. Ours is not the only region with magnificent mountains and terrific skiing, the largest state park east of the Mississippi, a truly great lake, and all kinds of uncluttered space to enjoy a bucolic rural landscape. Other regions are also close to cosmopolitan cities, fascinating villages, and rich histories.

Few communities, however, have the same sense of community spirit that we almost take for granted here in the North Country.

It is easy to take things for granted here.

After all, many people here have enjoyed these amenities and a strong sense of community for their entire lives. And, we live in a state that has a history of government doing almost everything imaginable, even if now unaffordable, for its residents.

It is perhaps useful on occasion to simply appreciate those entities and agencies that go well beyond what can reasonably be expected to help in the quality of life of our community, especially in the area of economic development.

Before I do, perhaps it is helpful to ask just what economic development ought to be.

As I have been pondering and researching the subject of a new book on the history of world economies, I am becoming increasingly convinced that economic development does not mean more of everything. Rather, it means better opportunities.

For instance, greater income does not always translate into greater happiness. Instead, we should strive for better jobs, higher quality of life, and greater opportunities, not simply more jobs.

And, we should be concerned with creating a community that is as attractive to those outside our region as it is to us. After all, the harsh reality is that our regional population is aging, and without an inflow of replacement population, our community will decline.

Some might argue that we should reinvent ourselves into a retirement community for those who enjoy our attributes and have the money to pay for them, economic opportunity or not. However, such an approach is not sustainable if we define sustainability as creating opportunities to survive for all generations, not just a favored generation.

Instead, we must develop a plan that will allow young people and entrepreneurs to survive, and, indeed, thrive. We must also create opportunities for those displaced from the inevitable shifting economies so that they can remain in and be supported by our community.

Groups like the United Way, and individuals like John Bernardi, make important contributions in filling some of these gaps. For the efforts of such groups as United Way, the J.C.E.O., our local Rotary chapters, and other benevolent organizations that make this town so vibrant, we must all be grateful.

And through the effectiveness of an active Chamber of Commerce and The Development Corporation, we are a region that continually endeavors to keep the economic engines moving forward.

There is one hero that has gone unsung for too long, though. Our local Small Business Development Center directly touches the lives of perhaps more people than any other economic-development agency.

The SBDC is sponsored by the State of New York, directly, and indirectly through SUNY Plattsburgh. Located on the Oval at the Old Base, it counsels hundreds of budding entrepreneurs and seasoned business people, alike. It assists them in developing business plans, securing funding, developing marketing strategies and bringing individual dreams to fruition. It is appreciated by bankers, graduates of our business programs looking for a start to their careers, and, ultimately, customers and new hires who benefit from new private sector companies in our region.

We take this increasingly successful program for granted because it works quietly in the background to help assure our collective economic success.

Like any agency, though, the SBDC must constantly look for new avenues to serve its community. Any organization that falls into the trap of doing in the future just as it has done in the past sows the seeds of its inevitable irrelevancy, and does not serve the public to its fullest potential.

In this need to constantly extend and reinvent, the SBDC is incredibly successful, much to the credit of its innovative director, Rick Leibowitz.

Under his leadership, the SBDC has branched out to communities as far away as Malone and Crown Point. It has become a first responder to economic crises all across the North Country. And, in doing so, it has offered the especially important reassurance that opportunity can follow calamity.

Leibowitz is effective because, like any good leader, he does not wait until he is asked to do something. Instead, he and his team are open to and frequently discuss ways in which they can do more. Of course, like any agency that must work on a fixed budget that is rarely proportional to the work they do, some difficult choices must be made at times. More common, though, is the sense from Leibowitz that he must simply work more hours in the day, and more effectively each hour, to allow our region to live up to its potential.

Ironically, it is individuals like Leibowitz who are most often called upon to help out. Such incredibly busy individuals who practice selfless devotion to the community are the very same types of individuals we all want associated with our prized causes. Fortunately for us all, it is also our busiest people that understand they cannot possibly survive unless they use every moment to its fullest potential. As the old adage goes, if you want something done on time and on budget, give the assignment to a busy person.

Perhaps we can all take inspiration from Rick Leibowitz and his incredibly effective team at the Small Business Development Center. This is one example that demonstrates an agency funded by the State of New York can be ambitious, innovative and proactive in a way that benefits us all, and in new ways every day.

Colin Read is the former dean and now teaches economics and finance in the School of Business and Economics at SUNY Plattsburgh. His fifth book, "The Rise and Fall of an Economic Empire," will be published by MacMillan Palgrave next fall. He also runs an economic and business consulting company, and can be reached through his Website at www.economicinsights.net