Cloud-based EHR company athenahealth is expanding again. This time the growth will be in research and development, and it’s all happening in Austin, where there is already a core of 36 software developers at work, along with 20 more in other parts of Texas.

"We think there’s a lot of potential to build upon what we already have there, which is terrific," said Margo Hendrickson, vice president of human resources at athenahealth. "It helps us in terms of a national footprint."

The company made a deal Jan. 30 with the City of Austin, promising to have in place 607 jobs over 10 years, most of them paying six figures. The company will also invest $13 million to turn 110,000 square-feet of the former Seaholm Power Plant into a hive of software development.

For its part, the state is providing athenahealth a $5 million incentive, and Austin is chipping in an additional $679,500.

"We're trying to connect a national network of care and show how health information can move across settings to follow a patient," Hendrickson told Healthcare IT News. "We have hundreds of athenistas to hire," she said, employing a word used internally at athenahealth to refer to tech savvy, innovative, smart, entrepreneurial employees. "We think that Austin will help us attract the best talent that we can possibly get in the healthcare and technology space.”

The Austin City Council 5-2 vote in favor of the athenahealth deal was no slam-dunk, however. Two councilors had raised concerns about the plans, according to reports in the Austin Business Journal. One issue had to do with whether city incentives were necessary at a time when the Austin economy is booming. Another concern was over how much of the space in the building would remain open to the public with athenahealth taking up 110,000 square feet – the bulk of the landmark building – for office space.

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Plans for the building still call for a restaurant on the ground floor and other space open to the public.

"We're thrilled to be growing our presence in Austin, a City with a culture and vibe that perfectly aligns with our own," Jonathan Bush, chairman and CEO of athenahealth said in a Jan. 31 news statement. "Athenahealth is growing all across the country as we work to fulfill our vision of becoming a national information backbone to make health care work as it should…We're inspired to make Austin a hub for the important work we do to advance connectivity in healthcare."

Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth tallies nearly 3,000 employees at offices in Alabama, California, Georgia, Maine, New Jersey and North Carolina and in India.

Austin is not athenehealth's sole growth initiative. Last June, Bush confirmed the company's plans to expand in Atlanta by investing $10.8 million in the Ponce City Market development. Bush promised to create 500 new high-paying jobs over five years. Hendrickson said athenahealth plans to move employees from its Alpharetta, Ga., office to the Ponce City office in Atlanta. There, employees will be focused on client services, account management and sales.

"We're moving there hopefully this summer, which will also be good in terms of recruiting talent that fits our needs over time, and creating a compelling environment in the space for athenistas," Hendrickson said.

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Hendrickson acknowledged that finding the right people for the right jobs is not a snap.

"We have to keep up with our talent demands," she said. "For sure it's a pressure point."

Athenahealth has been flying high lately, with nothing but good news, it seems.

Its 4th quarter and full year report for 2013 showed 48 percent revenue growth – to $171.6 million compared with $116.3 million -- over the same quarter in 2012 and 41 percent revenue growth year over year, $595.0 million for 2013 compared with $422.3 million in 2012.

Tim Adams, athenahealth's chief financial officer, said, in releasing the numbers, "The athenahealth team delivered another great year. We grew our physician network by 28 percent, achieved our 30 percent bookings growth goal for our core business and made significant investments in innovation to stay ahead of the ever-changing healthcare marketplace."