EHR giant Cerner on Friday completed the initial stage in a $4.5 billion expansion that company officials and the state’s governor are promising will add thousands of jobs.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said at the ceremony that the area is already seeing benefits of this project, pointing to nearly 4,000 jobs created.

“Once complete, this campus will accommodate Cerner's growth and bring up to 16,000 new jobs to the area strengthening Missouri's position as a top destination for growing tech companies,” Nixon said.   

Kansas City has been rebranding itself as a technology innovation hub some people have been calling it Silicon Prairie for the last several years, looking to attract entrepreneurs and employees alike. The region, in fact, was the first to implement the Google Fiber gigabit Internet service. In addition to Cerner, other technology companies in Kansas City include Sprint, DST Systems, and Garmin.

Cerner’s construction ceremony on Friday “marks significant progress for the project and completion of the structural framework for the first two office buildings on our new campus," Cerner COO Mike Nill said.

Nill announced the first buildings would house more than 3,000 engineers and was designed with open concepts and collaborative meeting spaces to encourage creativity and community.

When Cerner first broke ground on the new campus, in late 2014, the company said it intended to add 16,000 jobs in the next decade.

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