Ascension Parish’s rise as one of Louisiana’s fastest-growing economic engines is the result of long-term planning, infrastructure strategy and coordinated leadership, according to Kate MacArthur, president and CEO of the Ascension Economic Development Council.
On the latest episode of Baton Rouge Business Report’s “Strictly Business,” MacArthur said Ascension’s geographic advantages, including Mississippi River access, interstate connectivity and proximity to both Baton Rouge and New Orleans, remain foundational to the parish’s growth strategy.
Ascension has become Louisiana’s fastest-growing parish, fueled by industrial investment and expanding commercial development. Managing that expansion requires balancing industrial growth along the river with residential and retail development elsewhere.
One of the clearest examples of Ascension’s long-term strategy is the RiverPlex MegaPark, a 17,000-acre industrial concept first developed nearly 15 years ago.
That patience paid off in 2025, when Hyundai Steel announced a $5.8 billion project at the mega site—a move MacArthur describes as transformational. The investment represents Hyundai’s first steel manufacturing facility outside South Korea and is expected to generate 1,400 jobs, while helping reverse decades of economic decline on Ascension’s west bank.
“It was a new industry that we didn’t have,” MacArthur said of the Hyundai project. “It was the first one to go into the RiverPlex MegaPark that we’ve been working on for so long and it was announced at the White House. Those three things were amazing. It was one [project] where it took every single partner in our network to make it happen.”
MacArthur said the project is expected to create broad opportunities for local suppliers, from industrial contractors to service providers, and she encourages companies to register through the state’s Source Louisiana procurement system to compete for contracts.
Workforce preparation is also a major focus. MacArthur pointed to River Parishes Community College’s planned Donaldsonville campus expansion as a key step in training workers for emerging industrial and skilled-trade jobs needed to support incoming projects.
