SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a clear message to her constituents Wednesday: I love New York.

Nearly a month after her historic run for the presidency came to a disappointing end, Clinton returned to upstate New York and focused on local concerns -- weather-beaten apples, green power and her state's downtrodden economy.

Clinton had been a frequent visitor to upstate New York before the demands of her presidential run, and she was a regular at the New York State Fair in Syracuse every August. Her most recent trip upstate was in March to attend Gov. David Paterson's inauguration in Albany.

"It's wonderful. It is so wonderful. It was the only part of campaigning that was kind of challenging. I really missed New York. I missed actually physically being in the state and having a chance to see my friends and see a lot of what I care about around the state. So I'm back doing work that I love, and I feel very good about what we are going to be able to accomplish," Clinton said.

As many as 500 people gathered in Hanover Square in downtown Syracuse to see Clinton, who suspended her campaign last month after Barack Obama secured enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination.

"Looking around the square, it feels like a family reunion, I see so many familiar faces," Clinton said to a standing ovation.

During her two-hour visit in Syracuse, Clinton met with Mayor Matt Driscoll, representatives of several green businesses and alternative energy firms and officials from the region's colleges and universities, who gave her a briefing and demonstrated some of the technologies being researched and developed in the area.

Clinton was joined after the meeting by Paterson and both talked about their commitment to spurring the growth of alternative energy and green jobs.

Later Wednesday, Clinton was headed to Newark and Geneva to meet with farmers whose crops were severely damaged by last month's hail storms and see the devastation firsthand. Since the storms, Clinton has been working with farmers to assess the damage and provide assistance.

Clinton was to finish her upstate swing in Buffalo, joining Schumer for the ceremonial opening of the Erie Canal Harbor, a waterfront redevelopment project, and then a tour of Buffalo's Artspace, a redevelopment project that provides affordable housing and work space for artists and their families as well as commercial space for arts organizations and arts-related businesses.