Sachse councilmembers learned the Evolve Biologics development continues to progress following a November 2021 groundbreaking with proposed “substantial completion” by the end of 2024.

Mark Krause, senior vice president for operations with Evolve Biologics, said construction on the over $200 million facility remains ongoing with roof installation being complete in the fall. Once built, the facility will have a capacity to process 1 million liters of plasma using its proprietary technology and create around 300 jobs in the city.

Krause said additional upgrades to the facility could see it process as much as 2 million liters of plasma per day. Next up in the process is erecting steel beams that will form the outline of the building, which should happen soon, he added.

Additionally, City Manager Gina Nash presented updates to the city’s employee policies and procedures manual to reflect several changes to tuition reimbursement, compensable travel time, leave and vacation policy and observed holidays. One major change would be operating leave policies on a calendar year basis, similar to other benefits, as opposed to the current fiscal year model, she said.

Changes were proposed based on employee feedback in the city’s Culture Committee, which has representatives from each department.

The first major change was for tuition reimbursement, which is budgeted on historical use and requires employees who use it to remain employed for at least a year after completion or they are required to pay back the city. The proposed increases are from $2,000 to $5,250 for each eligible employee with a corresponding budget adjustment to be made based on use. The benefit will also be better aligned with academic calendars, said Nash.

“The way it stands now, if you would like to participate in our program, you need to know by July,” Nash said. “Sometimes those courses aren’t released for our people to look at. Some people are having to plan out to a time that there’s not even information out there for them to plan.”

For the full story, see the April 27 issue of The Sachse News.