Crisp, interviewed Tuesday at a groundbreaking ceremony for the project, said the company hopes to have the new office ready by the second quarter of next year and that Benson Hill would occupy the majority of the space.

Already, the company is on a hiring spree. Its workforce of nearly 120 employees has grown by about 50 percent within the last year, and Crisp said it is advertising for about 30 positions now.

Some of the firm’s earliest investment came from St. Louis venture and seed capital, such as Biogenerator, the Helix Fund, Cultivation Capital and Lewis & Clark Ventures.

“We went for three years without getting paid, without our own lab infrastructure,” Crisp said. “We did what had to be done to succeed.”