In an annual meeting, members of the Sachse Economic Development Corporation and Sachse City Council gathered to discuss economic goals for the city as it approaches buildout.

Economic Development Manager Jerod Potts provided an overview of target business sectors and potential development projects during the joint council and SEDC meeting Thursday, Jan. 12, at City Hall.

Potts said the main goals for the emphasis on attracting commercial entities into the city is to diversify the city’s tax base, encourage industry clusters, provide high-quality jobs and ensure the resilience of the local economy. 

“With the pandemic, we saw certain industries were impacted and we don’t want to overinvest in one element,” Potts said. “While clusters can be great, we don’t want it to be the only thing we go after in case the economy tanks and our economy is shot.”

Councilmember Michelle Howarth said she supports the goals but wants the city to focus on bringing in businesses soon to alleviate the tax burden on residential taxpayers. Potts said one benefit to increasing the economic development in the city could bolster the daytime traffic in Sachse.

“One of the things I keep hearing is a desire for more commercial and retail spaces,” Potts said. “We have the data that shows that there is significant leakage but in order to have those amenities, you have to have the daytime population to support it.”

When it opens, Evolve Biologics and the nearly 300 jobs it will bring to Sachse is an example of a business that could help increase daytime traffic at local restaurants, he added.

Additionally, Potts also briefed the SEDC and council on target economy sectors for the city, namely medical and life sciences companies that could complement Trinity Regional Hospital and Evolve Biologics. The city is also looking to bring in technology firms to extend a corridor of such companies north of Richardson.

City Manager Gina Nash said staff has communicated with the Dallas Regional Chamber and used the addition of Evolve Biologics to demonstrate that it is possible to bring medical companies to Sachse along with high-quality jobs. However, the city tries to stay ahead of the Dallas Regional Chamber because it cannot explicitly favor developing one area of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex over another.

“We are at the top of their mind,” Nash said. “They aren’t going to pick one city over another but they are going to give out contacts.”

For the full story, see the Jan. 19 issue of The Sachse News.