Fool us once, shame on you; fool us three or four times … shame on us. West Virginians who have gotten used to hearing big economic announcements only to be let down can be forgiven for skepticism over the news of Nucor Corp.’s planned Mason County project.

Deputy Economic Development Secretary Mike Graney told another media outlet the memorandum of understanding with Nucor is designed so that if the company does not hold up its end of the deal, the state can get back “some” of its funds.

“If they don’t perform, there are clawbacks,” Graney told WVNews. “We’ll take some of that initial funding back.”

But, Graney was careful to add, “We don’t expect that to ever happen. These guys are serious and they are going to do what they said they are going to do. But we still wanted to protect the taxpayer dollars.”

It is true all over West Virginia, but particularly up and down the Ohio River Valley in recent years. Companies (or countries) talk a good game and get officials all worked up about the potential for an enormous boost to our economy … and then disappear.

So while the excitement is still there, officials appear to have learned their lesson.

In discussing the recently passed Industrial Advancement Act, state House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said “This is not a billion-dollar giveaway in any way. No state money will be spent until a company takes the first step and invests hard dollars here first.”

Hanshaw knows our experience in these matters has been disheartening. There is no evidence Nucor will treat us as poorly as some of the others. Still, it is important for lawmakers and development office leaders to maintain that desire to protect West Virginia. We’ve been down this road too many times to let naivete overshadow our interests. It seems the people in charge may finally have sorted that out.