A Raleigh company that provides shipping, transportation and various support services for pharmaceutical companies and other customers is seeking to hire more than 50 drivers as its business expands.

Longistics will hold a job fair at its headquarters on Saturday to find qualified candidates. The average starting salary for its drivers is $60,000 a year.

The private company, run by the husband-and-wife team of Duane and Pat Long, has won several new contracts and is also seeing a pickup in business with existing customers.

Gov. Bev Perdue and Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco will be in Research Triangle Park this morning to celebrate Longistics launch of a new exhibition center in Suzhou, China.

Longistics, which handles logistics, warehousing and transportation needs for its clients, will open the SIP International Commodities Exhibition Center at the Suzhou Industrial Park on March 1, 2011.

Suzhou is located about 60 miles west of Shanghai.

The center is designed to accelerate the export of products from North Carolina and other U.S.-based companies to China. Plans call for Longistics to add 50 companies at the center within the first year of operations, and 500 companies by five years.

Today's 11 a.m. event is being held at Longistic's headquarters in RTP.