It has been a glorious week here on the East Coast of the United States, a welcome reprieve from the grey, damp and interminably depressing winter and spring we endured. I was afforded the wonderful opportunity to drive north, toward my homeland, into the lakes and farmlands of upstate New York, and all for the best of reasons. This past Wednesday I had the chance to speak before the annual meeting of the New York State Economic Development Council on major trends facing states like New York as they plan for their coming decades.

Then again, there are no other states like New York; they are historically, industrially, and culturally unlike any other province on Earth. Present at the birth of the United States, they include one of the world’s most important cities, formed the backbone of the twentieth-century industrial economy, gave rise to several world-class companies (IBM, Kodak, Corning), and most importantly, share a border with Vermont, the single best chunk of land in the world. (With apologies…kinda)

Their future is surely in flux. The financial debacle that has rocked the world happened within their borders and is dragging down their tax revenues as we speak. They seem to accept that the Gilded Age of financial bonus excess may dribble on for a few years, but that a new age of austerity is likely upon us. Their physical infrastructure is significant, but also aging and costly. Despite their world-class university system, young people are seeking opportunities in other lands.

Despite the hyperventilation of those who follow stock indexes as the ultimate measure of global health and happiness, my presentation focused on considerably more positive upside for the Empire State. One of my biggest themes of the year has been SMALL, SMART, and LOCAL. The centrally-controlled, centrally-screwed-up financial system is obscuring more opportunity than it is enabling. Communities are coming together, bartering, printing local currencies, starting new, low-cost social services, educating each other, and creating prosperity.

This is where New York is sitting pretty. The whole place is nothing but a series of communities, small, medium and large, connected by universities, railways, waterways, and interstates. The state could be a hothouse of new experiments in prosperity. Few places on Earth have the mix of agriculture, chemical industry, research, high tech, small retail, tourism, and finance that New York does. Few places boast HUNDREDS of universities.

New York is a state the size of Belgium with a long, proud history and incredible resources to tap. I hope they use the strength of those communities to build a bright future.