Epic Systems Expands Headquarters with Farm-Themed Offices
One sign of success for EMR software giant Epic Systems is the continued expansion of its sprawling campus in Verona, Wis., just outside of Madison.
As reported in the Wisconsin State Journal, Epic recently opened three new office buildings that “have the appearance of a bucolic farm.
“A white farmhouse with a wrap-around porch leads into a creamery that connects to a red barn, complete with beige silo. A machine shed, made to look like a metal building, has a John Deere tractor parked in back. Gray cupolas and a horse-shaped weather vane sit astride the white stable building with a connected stone house.”
Epic Systems chief administration officer Stephen Dickmann says the buildings pay homage to the dairy farms that dot the landscape throughout southern Wisconsin.
Quirky, playful office space is nothing new to Epic, which employs 6,500 employees. Other buildings on campus have movie and science-fiction themes, and future expansion plans call for buildings styled to look like an Old English prep school or university (think Hogwarts from Harry Potter).
The additional offices are needed to house the company’s rapidly expanding workforce, says the Journal. Epic Systems has added more than 1,000 employees and expects to grow its staff further in the next 12 months.
Cerner Keeps Pace
An Epic Systems competitor in the EMR space, publicly traded Cerner, is also planning a major expansion of its Kansas City-based headquarters. As detailed in the Kansas City Star, Cerner is seeking approvals for construction of the city’s largest-ever office complex on a 241-acre campus that could house up to 15,000 employees.
Currently the firm employs 9,000 people in Kansas City, part of a total global workforce of 13,000 employees.
Photo credit: Wisconsin State Journal
