Sometimes, even though you lose the big prize, you still come out a winner.

Hillphoenix announced this week that it's going to consolidate at least some of its U.S. holdings in Conyers instead of Covington.

However, the refrigeration products company did not decide to close its Covington plant as was expected, and instead will invest $2 million in additional upgrades to the plant.

Mayor Ronnie Johnston said he thought the fact the Covington plant is being kept speaks to all the time and effort officials spent trying to meet Hillphoenix's needs.

We salute city officials and the Covington-Newton County Chamber of Commerce for all their hard work.

On the other hand, we offer our congratulations to the Rockdale folks for growing their portfolio.

So, while Covington didn't get the whole apple, at least we get to take a good bite.