A Fortune 500 company has made a major commitment to Selma.

Lockheed Martin has, in our humble opinion, wisely decided to make the Queen City home to a new pilot training school at Craig Field.

Everyone should be proud of this accomplishment and celebration is sure to follow.

But before the champagne bottle is uncorked, everyone should heed the words of Mayor James Perkins and other community leaders and have “cautious optimism.”

Yes, it is a major achievement for a city like Selma to be part of Lockheed Martin’s proposal to the federal government. But, unfortunately, the deal is still an unknown.

Until an announcement is made in April, this is just the beginning of a deal and it’s entirely possible that it won’t happen.

Luckily, Selma has enough going for it to make the decision easier for Washington policy-makers.

We have good, strong leadership willing to work to make a deal like this possible. We have a dedicated workforce hungry for a chance to prove their worth to the world. Nationally, we have lawmakers in the House and Senate willing to fight for the Black Belt.

But we don’t have the deal done just yet.

With our fingers crossed and prayers sent heaven-ward, we’ll wait patiently. Hopefully, the military will see the wisdom of coming to Selma.

If Selma continues putting their best foot forward, they probably will.

But even if the deal falls through, we should remember, a lot of good news has come to the area recently: the opening of Renosol, the expansion of Meadowcraft, Vertex, Lear and dozens of other companies have decided to make this area their home.

We welcome them all, and herald the work of our leaders, who have done a splendid job of promotion.

If everything goes according to plan, Lockheed Martin will be the latest company to make Selma a part of their corporation. We’ll all welcome them with open arms. But even if they don’t, we know the area will continue to expand economically.

It’s just too good not too.