Economic Development

The Economic Development Department performs professional, administrative, and managerial duties related to directing, organizing and managing economic development functions and commissions, including planning and zoning, economic and downtown development, historic preservation, tourism, parks and recreation, business licensing, federal grants and programs associated with economic development. The Department supports programs that assist the development of large and small businesses through its partners, the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, the Ascension Economic Development Corporation, the Microbusiness Enterprise Corporation of Ascension, the Donaldsonville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ascension Parish Office of Grants Management. The Department manages strategic planning and identified surplus and leakage gaps in the economy and works in partnership to recruit and retain businesses, sustain a productive workforce, writers grants to assist with infrastructure, engages with federal, state, and parish officials and departments to oversee developments in transportation, economic opportunities, tax credit programs, capital outlay requests, emergency response grants, and deploys tools to develop and identify sites for further economic growth. The Department develops anchor projects and maintains representation with the Donaldsonville Industrial Park Expansion, the Donaldsonville Downtown Development, Historic District, Main Street, and Cultural Districts, the Ascension Parish Tourist Commission, the Ascension Film Commission, the Friends of Bayou Lafourche, the Louisiana Travel Association, the National Main Street Center, and the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation. Additionally, the Department works in partnership with local heavy industries for financial assistance, job creation, and prospective developments of the Point Houmas and Modeste “mega sites.” The Department also deploys leads to community housing developers, the Louisiana Housing Authority, HUD, USDA, and the Capital Region Planning and Development Commission.