This year hasn’t been an easy one for many in Richmond County.

Last year wasn’t too hot either.

Yet 2009 is ending on some very positive signs, and that is something we can be thankful for.

Twice this month the front page has been graced with good news on the economic front. First it was that Richmond Yarns would be expanding thanks to a deal with a Canadian yarn-spinning company — FilSpec. For a community that has been battered with textile layoffs, the prospect of more than 100 new jobs is no small thing.

The new company will be called Richmond Specialty Yarns LLC and will produce special yarns from fibers and fiber blends to serve the military, medical, protective wear, marine, upholstered and furniture markets. Salaries for the new jobs will vary by job function, but the overall annual average wage will be $25,931, not including benefits.

“It’s a big deal,” said County Manager Rick Sago. “The thing that’s critical is that if this hadn’t happened, the mill would have closed.”

Instead of adding 130 new jobs we could be losing a like number.

“We read about closings all the time and this time we were able to save jobs and make a deal that will create new jobs. Any job we can save is huge, but it’s even better when we can create new ones.”

Hardly had the ink dried on the FilSpec story and we had another front page story that Therafirm Compression Products would be investing more than $1.1 million and creating 24 new jobs in Ellerbe.

The company currently employs 44 people. Therafirm Compression Products is part of Knit Rite’s and for the last 86 years they have been in the medical textile market producing socks for prosthetic and diabetic patients.

Neither plant expansion will erase Richmond County’s unemployment issues, but combined they are signs that there are niches we can fill in the global textile economy. The big days of the textile industry in the Sandhills may be gone, but textiles in some form can thrive and prosper.

Even before these last two announcements, there was the completion of Big Rock, a distribution center with more than 150 workers. Big Rock is solid proof that Richmond County is a good location for new companies.

Next year offers a lot of potential for Richmond County. Let’s focus on the positives.