Good morning, my fellow Cornellians,

My name is Kevin Casey McAvey, the new Executive Director of the Upstate Foundation and a grad student here at Cornell, finishing up my second Masters in Applied Economics. While to some, the "applied" portion of the title may still seem abstract, I assure you, very much like much of Cornell itself, my studies and interests revolve around the very real problems facing Upstate New York.

While Ithaca may not at first glance seem like a bustling metropolis compared to the skylines of New York City or Los Angeles, for Upstate New York it is the pinnacle of excellence when it comes to the region’s dreaded “brain drain.”

As the young and educated throughout most of Upstate N.Y. jump ship looking for something different down south or out west, Tompkins County has actually gained many members of this demographic. In what has become known as Upstate N.Y.’s “brain drain,” many of the forward-thinking college graduates that are needed to get the region’s economy back on track are moving elsewhere.

So then what is so unique about Tompkins?