Uponor North America is hosting a job fair March 22 at its recently acquired Hutchinson facility, which is now slated to open this summer.

Officials said they need to hire 50 workers for the former TDK Corp./Hutchinson Technology Inc. building that Uponor bought in August 2017 for $6.4 million. Finland-based Uponor is converting the building into a pipe making plant and needs workers sooner than it anticipated.

"The manufacturing plant is expected to become operational this summer, well ahead of initial [2019] estimate announced when the facility was first acquired," said Uponor spokeswoman Cassie Roman.

Uponor will conduct job interviewers in Hutchinson from 2-7 p.m. Thursday in the hopes of finding PEX pipe operators, senior maintenance technicians, shipping clerks, mixing and tool operators and quality control technicians.

In addtion to the Hutchinson expansion, the heating and air conditioning pipe maker, recently completed a $17.4 million addition to its Apple Valley.headquarters.

Uponor's fast growth comes at a time when manufacturers statewide wrestle with a very tight labor market. The situation prompted Uponor to host five job fairs in the Twin Cities in 19 months. The fairs succesfully ushered nearly 170 workers into Uponor, so company officials are game to try their luck again.

This time, however, the job fair will not be held at the Apple Valley headquarters but in Hutchinson at 50 West Highland Park Drive N.E., officials said.

Uponor North America has 800 U.S. employees (most in Minnesota) plus another 160 workers in Canada.