There are people in Georgia who may not know where Effingham County is. The world, however, is starting to find out.

From EFACEC’s decision to put its first U.S. production facility along Highways 21 and 275 to a Chinese firm choosing Effingham for its first American plant and headquarters to Thursday’s groundbreaking of a massive film studio — with a wide range of nationalities and cultures represented among its key people — global attention has been focused on Effingham. It appears that will continue as well with the recent announcements.

So often the bad things that happen in Effingham are what the county is known for — the arrests of makers and dealers of methamphetamine and the pursuit of child molesters and child pornography purveyors — belie the fine work of law enforcement to find and curb those illicit and deplorable activities.

Even something so banal as basketball recruiting has put Effingham in a good light. All the talk and speculation of where Effingham County High School senior Jakeenan Gant will attend college — he has chosen the University of Missouri, to great surprise to many — has thrust his school and his home community into the spotlight. It’s getting attention from people who may not have known of it before.

And now the Industrial Development Authority’s announcement of a large Chinese firm coming to Effingham, and Medient Studios’ choice of Effingham over numerous states and countries shows the world knows about Effingham. People have been coming to Effingham from different parts of the world for hundreds of years, starting with its founding Salzburgers.

It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon, either. We welcome our new neighbors and hope they develop a taste for the relaxed pace of life Effingham has to offer, which has drawn many others from neighboring communities to call Effingham home.