Officials of Serologicals Corp. are ready to start filling positions for the company’s new East Hills Business Park facility.

The Norcross, Ga.-based company will have a job fair this month to begin staffing the Lawrence manufacturing plant that will produce a chemical component used by a variety of pharmaceutical companies.

The $28 million plant, which is under construction, is expected to employ 40 people at average annual salaries of $47,000.

Company officials said they hoped to fill three maintenance positions through two mid-December job fairs. The positions will pay an average wage of $18 an hour.

Dale Huizenga, director of field human resources for Serologicals, said the company expected to have several small job fairs between now and July to fill positions at the plant.

Huizenga said the company — which received a 10-year, 80 percent tax abatement from the Lawrence City Commission — had begun interviewing candidates for three of the plant’s top management positions and were pleased with the number of applications.

“We’re probably averaging 60 to 70 responses per position,” he said. “There is obviously a lot of interest in the community about what we’re doing. That’s what we like to see because it gives us a lot of choices.”

The company expects to hire the plant’s top three management positions — director of operations, production manager and maintenance manager — by the end of the month.

Huizenga also said it appeared two of the three positions would be filled by residents from the Lawrence area.

Work on the exterior of the Serologicals Corp.'s manufacturing plant in Lawrence is almost complete. Company officials said Tuesday that the 43,000-square-foot building was expected to open in the first quarter of 2004.

The 43,000-square-foot plant is expected to open during the first quarter of 2004, said Robert Gowin, director of project management for the company.

“The project is on track, on time and on budget,” he said. “Everything has been working very well.”

The outside of the building is mostly complete and work is progressing on the interior.

Gowin said the company soon would start installing about $8 million worth of equipment, which is why it wants to fill the maintenance positions.

Huizenga said he expected to hire about 35 people between now and July, with the rest of the plant’s employees hired by early 2005.

The company will hire for the following positions: warehouse workers, production workers, production supervisors, quality assurance analysts, clerical positions, human resources professional, safety director and financial/accounting manager.