2009 in Review: Business

Seton

Amidst great fanfare, Seton Medical Center Hays opened its 331,000-square-foot hospital on Oct. 1, bringing the second and largest hospital to Hays County.

The rapidly growing county has been a historically medically underserved area, in which 58 percent of the population traveled out of the county for medical care.

The $143.7 million facility at IH-35 and Kyle Parkway offers a full-service emergency department, critical care, oncology, cardiology, surgical care, orthopedics, women’s services, Level II nursery, day surgery center, imaging, lab and other diagnostic and outpatient therapies.

Us Foods

Buda residents fought over the proposed U.S. Foodservice distribution center slated for the Sunfield development outside city limits east of town. After a development agreement was approved, a group of citizens and neighboring large landowners joined together under the name Budafirst to fight the plans, collecting signatures to force a citizens’ vote. City attorneys said the issue was an executive matter not subject to referendum elections. Budafirst members lost a lawsuit on the matter.

Foreclosures

It was a rough year for real estate nation-wide, and Hays County was no exception. In 2009 a record number of local homeowners saw their property sold on the steps of the county courthouse.
Hays County wrapped up 2009 with 1,520 foreclosure listings, representing a 57 percent increase from the 970 listings in 2008. In the seven years that the Hays Free Press has maintained foreclosure records, the previous record high was 1,064 listings in 2004.

Without exception, every month in 2009 set a record for the highest number of foreclosure listings for that month, topping 100 listings for every month except January. The peak of 150 listings in July was nearly three times higher than that month had seen in previous years.

Each quarter in 2009 proved worse than the last, with 321 listings in Q1, 380 in Q2, 393 in Q3, and 426 in the final quarter.

Big business

Buda didn’t see the addition of many big businesses this year, but over in Kyle the intersection of FM 1626 and IH-35 exploded. Store openings included Target, Kohl’s, Petco, RadioShack, Dollar Tree, Sally’s Beauty and more.

Small business

As the economy went into a tailspin, many small business owners reported slow sales and tough times. In Kyle and Buda, some new independent businesses opened while others shuttered their doors.

Buda residents got a sweet treat when Buda Drugstore added an old-fashioned soda fountain to the Railroad St. business. In Kyle, the Old Town Gift Emporium announced in late December that it would transform from a gift shop to a meeting space.