Plasma business will bring 50 jobs to Billings

An Illinois-based plasma services company will build its third Montana collection site in Great Falls.

BioLife Plasma Services will break ground in a month at Marketplace Shopping Center. The business will hire 25 people initially, and
eventually will employ 50.

By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer

BioLife, a subsidiary of Baxter International, pays donors up to $50 a week; it expects to hand out $25,000 a week once the business is in
full swing.

"What a perfect way for Great Falls to export a renewable resource," City Commissioner Bill Beecher said.

Oscar Davis, BioLife’s vice president of new center development, made the announcement at the Civic Center Thursday morning.

No current employees applied for the Great Falls jobs, so all hiring will be done locally, Davis said.

BioLife will hire a site manager, who will make about $55,000 a year.

An assistant manager, quality assurance director and nurses will make about $45,000. The remaining employees, who will be trained
in-house, will be paid $9 to $10 per hour. The company also offers a benefits package.

The company is in the process of closing on a three-acre parcel owned by Macerich Co. north of the Holiday Inn Express, Davis said.

BioLife’s general contractor will take local bids on the $2 million project, Davis said. The facility will open in May 2003.

Plasma donation differs from whole blood donation in that the 1Þ-hour procedure separates plasma from other blood components, then
pumps the remaining components back into the donor.

Plasma is used to treat a number of medical conditions, including hemophilia, cancers and burns.

BioLife has 100 collection locations in the United States, including Billings and Missoula. The company is adding 22 more to meet the
demand for plasma, and looks for locations in cities with 40,000 to 70,000 residents in non-urban areas.

Because blood products carry hepatitis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, BioLife builds collection site in communities with populations
with historically clean blood supplies.

First-time donors are given a comprehensive medical exam. After that, they are screened each time they give plasma to identify any
infections.

Just one needle is used for the procedure, single-use disposable collection kits are used and plasma donations are tested for infectious
agents.

People 18 to 60 can donate plasma twice a week, with a 48-hour waiting period between the donations. BioLife pays $20 for the first
donation of the week and $30 for the second. Donors can keep the fee themselves, or direct BioLife to send it to a charity, religious or
nonprofit organization of their choice.

The Great Falls site will have 24 beds at first, but will build to 42 as donations grow. The goal is 1,500 donations a week, he said.

Collection facilities are typically built near high-traffic shopping centers that give donors an opportunity to spend their payment, he said.

American Red Cross Blood Services Montana Director Janice Briggs said the money has lured regular donors away in other communities.

Briggs manages blood donations throughout Montana, except in the Billings area. She said when BioLife’s Missoula site opened two
years ago, donors for the American Red Cross’ whole blood and platelet programs dropped.

"We are concerned, because we need to collect those blood products for patients in this area," Briggs said.

A drop in platelet donors is particularly worrisome because the clotting component has only a five-day shelf life.

Whole blood can be donated once every 56 days. Briggs said people who donate plasma just one time a week also can donate whole
blood to the American Red Cross, but those who donate plasma twice a week would be ineligible.

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