Donaldsonville is entering a new era of growth as billions of dollars in industrial investment look to transform the west bank of Ascension Parish. Mayor Leroy Sullivan says the city is already seeing the ripple effects through new businesses, workforce development opportunities and infrastructure upgrades while working to preserve the historic community’s small-town character. He spoke with Ascension Business Report about how Donaldsonville is preparing for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
The growth is going to be outside the city of Donaldsonville, but its impact on Donaldsonville is going to be tremendous because of all of the other businesses that will look to locate. We got our first Korean restaurant. We have a Korean coffee shop that’s getting ready to open and another Korean barbecue. We’re already seeing the ripple effect of interest in the city of Donaldsonville because people know that, with Hyundai Steel, the CF Industries Blue Ammonia plant, and other industries looking to locate in that area, Donaldsonville is a magnet. This is going to be a win-win for all of the parishes that surround Ascension Parish and the West Bank of Ascension Parish. It’s exciting. Donaldsonville has been in a position for a long time; we’re landlocked, so there was no expansion, no development that was going on, and now you have development, businesses opening, people buying buildings, buying homes to fix up. You name it and it’s happening right now.
What specific strategies is the city using to attract new commercial and small business investment to complement the region’s heavy industrial base?
The overall strategy of industry should be transparency and communication. When there’s not enough communication or a lack of communication with the community, and people develop their own opinions, I think the more that you can teach them, the more that you can educate them, and show them that you’re going to be a good neighbor and it is safe. That speaks volumes.
With major projects like Hyundai Steel and CF Industries nearby, how is Donaldsonville working to ensure local residents benefit from job creation and workforce opportunities?
We’ve had luncheons where businesses came and talked and we had small businesses, minority businesses, come and be a part of it, so that they can hear all about what’s going on and the type of other business subcontractors they’re going to need. We try to do everything we can to connect the small businesses, the minority-owned businesses, with the big business, and hopefully they can get some of the work, because if we can’t help the small businesses or the minority businesses, then I think that we miss the mark.
How do you see the role of the planned River Parishes Community College workforce center shaping the local talent pipeline?
It would be a big mistake for people in this community to only think about Hyundai Steel because it is bigger than Hyundai Steel. There are other industries that are looking at the West Bank of Ascension Parish, not just the Modeste area. When you talk about RPCC and the West Side Campus, it is truly amazing. For many years, we’ve heard that the Mississippi River and the Sunshine Bridge have always been a barrier. Some people couldn’t afford to get to the community college on the East Bank. Now it is right here. It will be in your backyard. You have the opportunity to go and get all of the necessary skill sets to be able to get a good-paying job. Our young people need to be excited about the opportunities that will be available to them. Not everybody wants to go to college and those who want to go can finish and be able to get some type of good-paying job right here in this community because of the other industries, the other businesses that are going to locate here.
What are the city’s top priorities for roads, utilities, and drainage to support future development?
We received a total of $34 million for natural gas line replacement. The natural gas lines in the city of Downsville were 100 years old and very brittle. We’re replacing natural gas lines with plastic pipe, which will make the community a lot safer and we’ll be able to reduce the cost to the residents. With housing, there’s talk of two and possibly three subdivisions coming to the area, so we’ll be able to provide them with the natural gas infrastructure. We’ve improved our wastewater system over the past 15 years, and we just completed a $5 million improvement; all of our lift stations—we have about 35 of them—now have two pumps. We are having conversations about expanding our wastewater pond because with new residents, building subdivisions, and business coming, we will need increased capacity. One of the other things we are working to do is a septic receiving station, where the industries that’ll be building, and even RV parks, have to dump their waste. We are developing a septic receiving station where we’ll be able to take that waste, and it’ll be a revenue stream to the city of Donaldsonville.
Looking ahead five to 10 years, what does a successful economic development outcome for Donaldsonville look like under your administration?
We put a strategic planning commission together, and then we sent out a survey to the residents of the city to find out what they wanted to see. One of the things they disliked the most was the appearance of the city, blighted properties. We need to address them. In five to 10 years, with industry coming in and the city’s tax base changing because of other businesses, there will be money to do what needs to be done. We want to make sure the city is cleaner, attracting young, medium-income families to the community, making sure that the schools continue to improve, where they have a great school where you don’t have to worry about putting your children in any other type of school. Making sure that the city of Donaldsonville grows but still keeps that small-town atmosphere.
Reach Ascension Business Report News Editor Jordan Arceneaux at jordan@businessreport.com.
