The second-largest employer in Douglas County is expanding, and that could lead to more student jobs, said David Hakensen, spokesman for Pearson Government Solutions.

One hundred employees have been added in the past month, said Lynn Parman, vice president of economic development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.

The expansion will continue during the next 18 months with an undecided number of new jobs. An increase in contracts is fueling the expansion.

“We don’t have a set number of people we want to add,” Hakensen said. “It depends on the number of contracts we take.”

Expansion has been a common theme for Pearson, Parman said. The company has expanded at least three times since it came to Lawrence in 1994. It employs 1,800 people.

The company moved to its location in the East Hills Business Complex off Kansas Highway 10 in 1998.

The building is owned by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. The building lease was renewed in the past year and the chamber is pleased to see the expansion, Parman said.

“We are happy to see them expand because they are a major employer in Douglas county,” Parman said. “We want them to be around for a long time; they are great employers.”

Students work in positions throughout the company, including in the call center.

Pearson Government Solutions works as an intermediary for government agencies. One of the company’s functions is to take phone calls for government agencies such as Medicare and Medicaid, Hakensen said. Pearson answers more than 10 million calls a year with its four call centers.

The call centers are open 24 hours a day.

“We’ve found that high-educated people work for us more often,” Hakensen said. “We love to hire students because they are flexible and it is a good fit for both.”

Students are also eligible for jobs in human resources, informational technology and management.