WHITEFIELD — The North Country has weathered some tough times in the last decade, but thanks to some hard work and collaboration, things are looking up.

Speaking at the 39th annual meeting of the North Country Council on Tuesday, Gov. John Lynch cited the Gorham Paper and Tissue Mill, the Burgess BioPower project, the federal prison and the Groveton cell tower as evidence that the region is on what he hopes is an upward trend, and that a major factor in getting those projects off the ground was commissioner of the Department of Resources and Development, George Bald.

Both state officials will be leaving Concord, Bald at the end of the month, and Lynch in January when a new governor is sworn in, but both men indicated they won’t be leaving the North Country forever.

“I’m delighted to be here in paradise,” Lynch told those gathered for the dinner meeting, held at the Mountain View Grand. He repeated the words that he said when he first campaigned in the area almost a decade ago. “I love the North Country,” this time adding, “I want everybody to love the North Country.”

In his remarks he noted that New Hampshire is doing well relative to other states, and that remarkably, the dropout rate at White Mountains Regional High School is 1 percent, and is zero percent at Gorham High School.

“It’s important to focus on this,” he said, “not just for kids, but for businesses.” He said he loves the work ethic in the North Country, and called the people in the region “appreciative.”

That appreciation was expressed through standing ovations for governor and commissioner, a gift of baskets of North Country goods presented by Michael King, executive director of NCC, and a proclamation, read by Mayor Paul Grenier, from the city of Berlin.

The proclamation thanked them for their efforts in the region on projects aimed at diversifying and strengthening the economic base, such as the development of Jericho Mountain ATV Park, and recognizing them for “their exceptional leadership and for their steadfast assistance at every turn to be sure that no stone was left unturned and that every possible thing that could be done would be done to ensure that this area of the state has a reasonable opportunity to recover from its many setbacks and thrive.”

“Without these two,” Grenier said, “Berlin would not have the headwind that it has today.”

Bald praised the outgoing governor, too, saying he was a wonderful leader and tolerant of mistakes. “It’s in his heart to do a good job for us,” he said of Lynch.

He said New Hampshire is unique in that it combines parks and recreation, lands and forest, tourism and economic development under one department, DRED. We recognize we need a good economy throughout the state, he said, but that we also want a nice place to live in, and a nice place for people to come visit. This involves balancing the interests of the economy with the interests of the environment.

“A lot of states don’t do that,” he said. In New Hampshire, he said, there’s a lot more cooperation. As an example of agencies working together, he recounted that in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, the state was faced with a two-month project to rebuild a washed out section of the Kancamagus Highway. With bus tour companies calling from all over the country to see if they’d have to change their foliage tour routes, time was of the essence.

Instead of a big fill-in project, the state shifted the road over onto White Mountain National Forest land, thanks to a working relationship with Tom Wagner, WMNF supervisor. The road was open by the time the leaves changed.

He urged attendees to keep that focus, and continue with those strong relationships.

The meeting was attended by NCC members from Plymouth to Colebrook, along with others who have worked with the regional planning commission in various capacities. NCC covers all of Coos County and the northern towns of Carroll and Grafton counties.

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Sara Young-Knox may be reached at syoungknox@newstote.com.