Mike Tarantino has seen it all in Iberia Parish. For the last 15 years, he has been the president and CEO of the Iberia Parish Industrial Development Foundation, which is one of the primary facilitators of economic and industrial development activities for Iberia Parish and marketing activities for the Port of Iberia and the Acadiana Regional Airport.

With IDF, Tarantino represents Iberia Parish and the Acadiana region on many boards and commissions, including One Acadiana and the Acadiana Economic Development Council, where he has served as secretary, vice, chairman, and chairman of the marketing committee.

He is an active member of the Southern Economic Development Council and the International Economic Development Council. He is also an associate member of the Ports Association of Louisiana, a graduate of Leadership Louisiana and a past recipient of the 20 Under 40 award.  

The Daily Iberian sat down with Tarantino to ask him a few questions about the current lag in the oil and gas industry, the signs for the future and his take on where Iberia Parish should be heading.

We are three years into the Gulf of Mexico oil exploration slowdown. Is there light at the end of this tunnel yet?

We continue to improve slowly. We have seen the price of oil increase. Last week was a temporary drop. But we have to remember the oil and gas economy is changing. You had, back in the day, three main producers: Texas, Louisiana and Alaska. Now there are, what, 38 states producing from shale? But we have something that widens our economic portfolio — generations of experience. We are seeing the number of projects at the port increasing, and unemployment is down. At its worst, we were at about 91/2 percent in late 15, and 71/2 percent in 2017. In September, we were at 5. 9 percent. It has had its ups and downs, but unemployment is trending downward. 

What path does the IDF see for a stronger economy in Iberia Parish?

We have historically been dependent on oil and gas, and agriculture. It’s very important that we diversify our economic base. It’s like a stock portfolio. Balance is what we need to do better. We have a lot of promise in aviation, medical research and non-oil and gas manufacturing. We need to continue to diversify and make investments in the future, in workforce development and infrastructure. Diversification won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take a lot of small steps. We are much more diversified than we were in the 1980s. We have raw materials, we have the intermodal connections — air, rail, water transport, highways — and we are perched between New Orleans and Houston. There is no reason we can’t develop an industrial base in aviation or health care. With every investment we make in Iberia Medical Center, it is just one more reason for people to seek health care here. It’s not just for folks from our area.

What successes have you seen in the last three years?

We are seeing a lot at the Port of Iberia. It is helping us create a wider economic portfolio. We are seeing boats and boatbuilding, non-oil and gas manufacturing. Metal Shark and GatorTail are two big manufacturing wins for us. We have seen businesses like Aggreko take on new opportunities, expanding the job market to seek more technically trained workers. Halliburton has shown it takes value in what Iberia Parish has to offer, expanding its base here. And the UL Research Facility has launched its first onsite biomanufacturing lab. Crown Bio is doing great things. We need to keep pushing that.

What signs should people look for to know the recovery is taking root?

Different folks use different grading scales. For government, you look at the sales tax numbers. You are looking at your ad valorem tax numbers, to see if the property values are increasing. For the average person, it’s going to be the job market. Are we seeing lower unemployment? Are wages going up? Then you have to look at your available workforce. Do you have the people you need to fill the jobs that the economy needs? Are people staying here and finding employment instead of looking elsewhere? It’s about continuing to develop Iberia Parish as a place to be. We need people to want to be living here, and working here.