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In 1983 J. "Rick" Tarajano saw the sales volume at his construction company sliced in half from its previous year's total of $17 million.
Up until that time, Riana Enterprises' sole line of business was construction work for Baton Rouge area chemical companies -- which left it particularly vulnerable to the economic downturn.
"I've been in Baton Rouge since 1966, and from then until 1980 I had never seen a slowdown," he said. "But at that point I realized that if you don't diversify, you won't make it. Any one area can dry up on you."
Tarajano set about remedying that situation, and today Riana is no longer a one-line business. It has branched out into pipeline and plant maintenance storage tank and municipal public works construction and maintenance, and holds a maintenance contract with Martin-Marietta in New Orleans.
By diversifying, Tarajano...