Firm to recruit more than 100 workers to make COVID, HIV tests

Chembio Diagnostics Inc. in Hauppauge plans to expand its workforce by more than 100 people to fill orders for its COVID-19 and HIV tests from overseas customers, the CEO said this week.

Richard L. Eberly, who has led the company since March 2020, said it will hold a job fair on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in its factory at 3661 Horseblock Rd. in Medford.

The hiring spree follows a 9% reduction in the Chembio workforce in January as it deployed more robots for test production. The workforce totaled 355 people in December, with 320 on Long Island, according to a securities filing.

Eberly said, "Chembio continues to embrace automation technologies to improve manufacturing efficiencies and increase capacity. However, we need all these employees to help meet existing customer demands." The new jobs "are all full-time positions, no temporary hiring," he said.

The company is primarily seeking to fill production jobs: assembly operators, production and laboratory technicians, mechanics, automation technicians, material handlers, quality assurance personnel, an electrician and a logistics coordinator. Starting salaries are between $16 and $35 per hour. A signing bonus of $2,000 will be paid in two installments.

"We need to hire well over 100 people to fulfill two large orders for our COVID-19 antigen and HIV tests," Eberly said in an interview on Tuesday.

Last month, Chembio received a $28.3 million order for its antigen test from the Brazilian government. The order is larger than the company’s sales for all of 2020. The 20-minute test involves a nasal swab and detects the COVID-19 antigen that indicates an active infection.

Chembio also has received a $4 million order for its HIV test to be used in Ethiopia next year.

"Filling these two orders is our largest challenge right now, but this [hiring activity] isn't just about the two orders we won in July," Eberly said. "We're working on a pipeline of products for the future," including a test that distinguishes between the flu and COVID.

More information about the job openings may be found at chembio.com or by sending an email to support@chembio.com or calling 631-924-1135.

Separately, Newsday reported Tuesday that Chembio is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a stock offering that closed in May 2020, weeks before one of the company's COVID-19 antibody tests lost preliminary federal approval. The public company and six of its current and former executives have received subpoenas and are cooperating with the SEC probe, according to a securities filing.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.