A few months ago I did a story on the governor's regional economic development councils, the 10 pow-wows of government-private synergizationy.

There was a problem with the north country's council, though. It was massive. The enormity of the region upset economic development whizzes, from Jay Matteson to Don Alexander to my own boss, John B. Johnson Jr..

The configuration has changed. It's like a before-and-after picture for a weight-loss drug. The slimmed region includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties — the more traditional region.

It won't please everybody. Mr. Johnson, the publisher of this (awesome) newspaper, wanted Jefferson County included with the Syracuse area. That didn't happen.

But at least we're not with Otsego County anymore.

Next up: Who's going to be on the panels? Hopefully we won't have to again wait months for an answer.

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