Island Boats, builder of aluminum crew and ferry boats in New Iberia, closed its doors last week, leaving about 40 Teche Area residents jobless.

Owner Miles Thomas said the company ceased operations as it tries to “work out contracts with a customer.” He did not say whether the shut down was permanent.

In February, Island’s operation manager Ron Bacon hinted that he was unsure about the future of the industry. He said at that time, Island had two projects under way and a backlog of work to get them through mid-year.

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However, he said, after that, he was worried.

“I think 2009 will be a slow year,” Bacon said in February.

“I think the industry will be slow into 2010 until we start to see some sort of pickup. This is the first time in six years I have concerns. I have an empty stall. Before, customers were saying ‘Well, when can you start?’ Now companies are saying they aren’t wanting to spend the money right now. There is still too much uncertainty right now to predict what the future holds.”

Island’s former employees join others in the area laid off in recent weeks.

Though spotty, layoffs have mostly come from area companies heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry.

Port of Iberia Executive Director Roy Pontiff said he has seen some workforce trimming in recent months, mostly temporary and contract labor.

Air Logistics at Acadiana Regional Airport had a “reduction in workforce” earlier this year, said Danny Holder, director of Air Log’s Gulf of Mexico Business Operations Unit.

In addition to the recent reduction, Holder said the company has assessed it has an additional 60 employees too many, all across the Gulf of Mexico, from Texas to Alabama.

“Not just in New Iberia,” he stressed.

Air Log is offering a voluntary separation to its workers at this point, Holder said.

“We will see how much interest in this there is,” he said, “and where we go from there.”

Holder said for businesses that are solely dependent on oil and gas, the near future will be “a tough ride.”

“Most of our customers have reduced their activity due to falling commodity prices and that’s just a fact of life until commodity prices improve,” he said. “I would like to hope that we have seen the bottom, but again, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Pontiff said companies at the port are being cautious.

“Companies are enacting measures to become more efficient and are trimming down,” he said. “But, we do have indications of companies still hiring at the port.”