Walton County, along with our neighbors in Newton, Jasper and Morgan, just got a dose of good economic news.

When The Walton Tribune went to press Tuesday, the story was breaking and incomplete, but it appears a major economic player is headed to the site owned by the Joint Development Authority of the four counties.

That authority was to meet later Tuesday to vote on a package for a new industry.

Published reports say it will be Facebook. Those on the inside were pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing, citing non-disclosure agreements.

Last month, Walton County Commission Chairman Kevin Little said he anticipated at least one, and maybe more, major announcements on this front during 2018.

If it is Facebook, the cache of landing such a company can’t be overstated. It will be more than the jobs and the economic impact that will come with any development.

Having a Facebook sign on the side of a highway will project the fact that this area is a real player in the economic development game.

The editorial appeared in The Walton Tribune on Jan. 24, 2018.