Big, big business; Orange company top choice for water project.

COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION

At a time when many observers are bemoaning the decline of the manufacturing industry here and across in the United States, Rodney Hunt Co. in Orange has just sent the first of two huge, 14-foot-in-diameter valves on a long, circuitous trip to Dallas, where they will be used in a 30-mile water line feeding the city's water system.

Employees at the Central Massachusetts plant have been working on the valve for more than a year. They also designed and built the 120-foot truck with 13 axles that will carry the valve to Texas over the next four to six weeks.

It was not "only a labor" of love for company president David F. Waskiewicz and his employees, 25 of whom worked on the valve, but also one of the single largest valves - 60 tons - the company has ever made and the most complex shipping challenge it has encountered.

The local company, located thousands of miles from the installation site, was chosen for the project because it is one of a few fabricating concerns in the nation that had the knowledge and skilled workers to do the job.

In addition to the second 14-foot valve, Rodney Hunt Co. is scheduled to build three others, all 12 feet in diameter, for the Dallas project.

Kudos to the company, its president and employees for reminding the nation - as well as Massachusetts residents and policymakers - that industry and manufacturing remain an important and vital sector of the state's economy.