Today The Mount Airy News carries word that more than three dozen new, well-paying jobs will be coming to the city.

This is a strong, positive development for the community, particularly at this time of economic uncertainty across the nation.

One thing which has become apparent over the past decade is that the days of large-scale industry moving into a community and opening shop are mostly gone. It still happens on occasion, but towns such as Mount Airy must build their economies on firms that utilize smaller, but just as strong, work forces.

Willow Tex LLC, a company that manufactures synthetic leather for the aviation and other markets, is such a company, and we are glad to welcome it to the community.

Kudos to the Surry Economic Development Partnership, along with the city, county and state governments, which all worked together to bring Willow Tex to Mount Airy.

Locally, the city and county approved economic incentives worth a little more than $340,000, and the state through its One North Carolina Fund contributed a $130,000 grant to the effort.

While some might have fault with the idea of economic incentives, they are a fact of life in the modern, competitive business world. And at an average wage of $56,000, Willow Tex will pump more than four times the total incentives back into the community through its payroll the first year it’s fully staffed.

All around, this is a good move for Mount Airy, and certainly a nice Christmas present for the community.