A pair of new government contracts has NCS Pearson moving forward with plans to add 150 new jobs and 45,000 square feet of space to its Lawrence facility at East Hills Business Park.

NCS Pearson spokesman David Hakensen confirmed Thursday evening the company would soon apply for permits to begin the expansion at its site at 3833 Greenway Drive.

The new jobs, which should be added by July, will bring employment at NCS to about 765 people.

âÂÂWe decided to expand in Lawrence because weâÂÂve always been able to get a well-educated work force there, and we had the ability and the space to expand at East Hills,â Hakensen said from NCS Pearson corporate offices in Minnesota.

The expansion is being driven by $160 million in new government contracts. Most of the new jobs will be related to a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to run a telephone help line answering questions about Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Some of the jobs will be related to a U.S. Department of Defense contract to run a help line for health programs serving U.S. servicemen and women.

Hakensen estimated about 100 of the jobs would be customer call center positions and about 50 would be office and secretarial positions. He could not say how many jobs would be full time, but estimated most would have starting wages between $8 and $10 an hour, plus benefits.

Hakensen said the company was adding the 45,000 square feet of space to accommodate expected growth beyond the 150 new jobs.

âÂÂThe government contracting business has been a very good growth area for us,â Hakensen said. âÂÂThere could be potential for more jobs in the future.âÂÂ

The expansion will increase to 195,000 square feet the space NCS Pearson occupies at East Hills.

Lawrence is one of four NCS locations across the nation that handles government contract work. Hakensen said the Lawrence facility handles more contract work than the others. Nationwide, the work includes processing applications for student loans and hiring airport security screeners.

Lynn Parman, vice president for economic development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said the project would boost the area economy.

âÂÂThey are a good fit for the Lawrence community because they are a real stable, growing employer,â she said. âÂÂThey are very diverse in terms of the work they do out there. They have several different contracts they service, which provides them some stability. TheyâÂÂve really been a great growth story for us.âÂÂ

The company has grown steadily from about 330 employees in 1998.

Under state statutes, NCS doesnâÂÂt qualify for a tax abatement. Officials with Douglas County Development Inc., the non-profit group that runs East Hills Business Park, however, will be asking city commissioners to approve an expedited building permit process to allow the expansion to be completed by July.

DCDI, under a deal struck with NCS Pearson, will own the building and lease the space back to the company. An estimate of how much the construction project will cost was not available Thursday evening.