A new client means new jobs at the Jay Group.

The marketing services firm announced Wednesday that it has added Healthy Directions to its roster of clients, creating 70 jobs.

The Jay Group will process and fulfill orders, and provide customer service for the newsletter publisher and provider of physician-branded vitamins and nutritional supplements.

About 4,000 orders will be processed and 1,800 phone calls answered daily on behalf of Healthy Directions, said the Jay Group.

The two-year, multi-million-dollar contract is expected to be fully implemented by the end of March.

"What's great about this contract is that it crosses over two of our main business units — fulfillment and customer service," said Jay Group spokeswoman Kelly Smedley.

Healthy Directions, based in Potomac, Md., was founded in 1993 as a division of Phillips Publishing International.

The Jay Group has provided subscription services for another Phillips Publishing International division, the investment newsletter division Phillips Investment Resources, since 2000.

Established in 1965, the Jay Group is opening a $26 million headquarters in West Hempfield Township, between Marietta Pike and Stony Battery Road.

That facility hosted a visit in October by President Bush, putting it in the national spotlight.

The new facility will consolidate operations now in Ronks, New Holland and Smoketown. Its warehouse section now is being stocked and its office section will open in late December.

The Jay Group has about 500 employees and annual revenues exceeding $50 million. Clients include Johnson & Johnson, John Deere, Reebok International, Absolut, Heineken and McCormick, among others.

CONTACT US: tmekeel@LNPnews.com or 481-6030