A new five-year contract from the Department of Defense will save 40 jobs for developmentally-disabled workers at Lawrence-based Cottonwood Inc.

Peggy Wallert, director of community relations and development for Cottonwood Inc., said Wednesday that the Lawrence nonprofit agency recently learned it had received a five-year extension on its contract to make cargo straps for the U.S. military.

Wallert said the extension was a key victory for Cottonwood because it provided long-term job stability for about 40 workers who sew, package and label the cargo straps.

The nonprofit organization provides jobs for area residents with disabilities.

“It is very good news for us,” Wallert said. “There are very few contracts that allow us to know we’re going to have work for that length of time.”

Cottonwood workers could produce up to $10 million per year worth of straps if the military purchases the maximum amount called for in the contract.

J.R. Condra, director of work services for Cottonwood, said workers had been busy at the plant for the past year as military activities had increased. He said Cottonwood went from producing about 250,000 straps per year to about 700,000 straps per year. He said he thought Cottonwood’s ability to handle the increased workload was a key reason the Department of Defense extended the contract, which began in 1999.

“We saw production demand increase by 300 percent, and I think they were pleased that we could handle that,” Condra said.

The jobs, which pay a wage of about $7 an hour, are extremely important to the developmentally-disabled community, Wallert said.

Lawrence-based Cottonwood Inc. received a five-year extension on its contract to make cargo straps for the U.S. military. The contract will keep 40 people employed. Cottonwood employee Eddie Brown loaded cargo straps into bags for shipping on Wednesday.

“It gives them a sense of being like everybody else,” Wallert said. “They have a job like everybody else. They go on breaks like everybody else and they have their own daily routine.”

Ted Wiley, a Lawrence resident who works on the cargo strap project, agreed.

“I wouldn’t trade this job for all the money in the world,” Wiley said. “You come here at eight and leave at four, and you’re tired when you leave. You can go home and relax.”

Condra said the contract extension was particularly important because it had become more difficult for Cottonwood to find work for all of its workers.

“It has been a lot tougher because of the economy,” Condra said. “We’re finding that some firms we work with are no longer in business.”