We’re not sure if Jim Hodo ever shows signs of stress, but there was without a doubt a sense of calm around American Apparel’s chief operations officer Wednesday.

Surrounded by local economic leaders, public officials and members of the economic task force Team Selma, Hodo announced his company had been awarded three military contracts valued at an estimated $50 million.

The contracts came at exactly the right time for American Apparel, which was close to having to decide to layoff employees or further scale back measures.

“It’s a miracle,” Hodo told some of those attending Wednesday’s announcement. “We were a few weeks away from having to make some tough decisions.”

For the past 30-plus years, American Apparel has been a leader in the military uniform business, but in a time of shifting military contracts, changes in military ordering procedures and tough economic conditions the company has faced it’s challenges.

In recent months, the company has laid off employees, some of who may now be called back to work with these new contracts.

The new contracts will bring about expansion, upgrades and the need for the company to not only call back laid off employees, but also hire new ones.

American Apparel is a staple of Selma’s economy and Wednesday’s announcement is something the entire community joins them in celebrating.

Again, we’re not sure if Jim Hodo is someone who shows it when he is under stress, but he is definitely someone who shows it when is feeling much better about things.