Bejamin, right, makes a point as Tobin Flusser listens

NEW PALTZ – On a scale of zero to 100, the Mid-Hudson Valley ranks directly in the middle of the “Regional Well-Being Index” released Wednesday at SUNY New Paltz by the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach.

According to Assistant Director at CRREO KT Tobin Flusser, the “Regional Well-Being Index” is a single number on a scale of zero to 100 that represents the economic, social, and environmental well-being for the counties of Dutchess, Orange, Sullivan, and Ulster.

She said that each county is ranked individually in eight different categories: Economy, Education, Environment, Community & Equity, Governance, Health, Arts & Culture, and Safety.

“This is the first baseline report and, on the scale of zero to 100, the region is exactly at 50.”

Separately, she noted, the well-being in Dutchess County ranks 51, Orange County ranks 47, Sullivan County ranks 41, and Ulster County ranks 57.

This report was compiled for policy makers, decision makers, municipal officials and everyone in the spheres from housing to health care to arts & culture, said Tobin Flusser.

“What we wanted to do was take a comprehensive look at all of these things so decisions could be made within the context of the big picture as opposed to just the smaller silo areas broken up.”

The data contained in the report is from 2008, but Tobin Flusser said that updates can be expected annually as well as more in depth sub category reports periodically throughout the year.

“We hope this first Regional Well-Being report will dramatize how much a regional vision in the Mid-Hudson Valley is broadly shared, and provide a continuing agreed focus on how we may together progress toward agreed goals,” said CRREO Director Gerald Benjamin.