Ten years ago when UPU Industries began building their factory in Junction City they took out a development agreement loan through the city with the promise to pay it off in 10 years. They did just that this past June.

During a celebration Thursday morning Philip Orr, CEO of UPU Industries explained, “It’s really a great pleasure to be able to say, we borrowed it and we paid it back.”

UPU Industries produces a round bale netting in their Junction City factory located in the Junction City Industrial Park off of Old Highway 40.

Cheryl Beatty, Interim City Manager called UPU Industries one of the cities successful projects.

“They took out a small loan with the city with a promise to pay it back in ten years and they did at the end of June of this year,” says Beatty.

The loan was for $367,000 in 2004. City officials have corrected the total number received by the city that was released during the press conference, after all the payments were made including interest the city received approximately $514,000.

Orr also announced that they are currently planning to expand in Junction City.

“Our intention is to develop a new product here, there are some machine modifications being done at the minute, right now that were built in our factory in Ireland a year and a half ago. We’ve been running that product on one line there, and now we are bringing it here,” says Orr.

The new product is a new design made with new materials and they hope to run it out towards the end of the fall.

“A much improved version of the generic netting that we make for bail netting here. John Deere for example have a very free run in the market from a foreign made material, it’s made in Israel, and nobody has really challenged that. We have now developed the technology that we can challenge it.”

With the new line coming to the Junction City factory they are looking into expanding the size of the factory. How big the expansion will be and when it will occur has yet to be decided.