A North Lawrence business that employs several hundred seasonal employees to grade standardized tests for schools will not open this year.

Arlington, Va.-based Pearson Government Solutions will not open its facility in the I-70 Business Center this year because the company has fewer tests to grade, said Dave Hakensen, a spokesman for the company.

The grading center, which is the largest and one of the few tenants in the I-70 Business Center, usually is open from February to August, Hakensen said. The company operates 12 other centers across the country. Hakensen said the company may reopen the Lawrence grading center in 2005 or 2006.

“We’re certainly hoping to operate there again,” Hakensen said. “Next year will be a higher volume scoring year for us because of some new contracts.”

Employment levels at the center varied from year to year, but Hakensen said it generally had about 300 employees. He said seasonal employees who had worked at the test center were given an opportunity to apply for jobs at Pearson’s center in Lawrence’s East Hills Business Park, where the company does a variety of call center and computer work for government agencies.

Pearson is keeping its lease on the 17,000 square feet of space in the I-70 Business Center, which formerly was the Tanger Factory Outlet Center. Hakensen said in addition to new contracts in 2005, the company would begin grading SAT tests in 2006.

“There obviously are a lot of kids who take the SATs, and that will increase our need for scoring centers,” Hakensen said.

In the meantime, an office furniture store has agreed to take about 6,000 square feet of Pearson’s space in the center.

Lawrence Office Furniture Warehouse is scheduled to open Monday, said John Pauley, the store’s owner. The store will sell used office furniture.

Pauley, a Kansas City-area businessman, bought about seven truckloads of used furniture from Kansas City, Mo.-based Farmland Industries, which went bankrupt, and Shook Hardy & Bacon, a Kansas City, Mo., law firm that recently moved its offices.

The Lawrence store will sell the furniture at prices that are about 15 percent to 25 percent less than prices for comparable new furniture, Pauley said.

Pauley said he decided to open a store in the I-70 Business Center because it would be easy for customers in Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka to access.

Other businesses also are considering locating in the I-70 Business Center, said Tom Moses, a real estate agent with Cohen-Esrey Real Estate Service in Topeka, which is handling leasing for the center.

He said he was marketing the property to both retail and office users.

“The market is still fairly slow but we’re getting some interest,” Moses said.

He said he had approached grocery store companies about locating in the center but said “it appears that isn’t going to work.”