The Herald-Zeitung

Stay-Tuff Fence has announced it will be leaving New Braunfels after nearly eight years.

The local company, which produces fixed-wire fencing, will be packing up and moving to McQueeney after outgrowing its New Braunfels facility.

“We ran out of room,” said Stay-Tuff Chief Executive Officer Bill Daugherty. “We could no longer do what we needed to with what we had.”

Stay-Tuff purchased 22 acres in McQueeney, and will be constructing a 110,000 square-foot facility. Its current space in New Braunfels is 28,000 square feet.

Aside from a need for more space, Daugherty said the company also needed access to siding along Union Pacific rails, something which wasn’t available in New Braunfels.

Greater Chamber of Commerce President Michael Meek said trying to get Union Pacific to service new lines is nearly impossible, and it was a shame it helped force the successful company out of town.

“It’s real unfortunate that you can’t keep a growing local firm in business here because of that,” Meek said.

Daugherty said he will sell or lease the space in New Braunfels.

The facility in McQueeney will allow the company to have access to raw materials from the railroad, add three additional looms, make more products and add more jobs.

After operating in town since 2000, Daugherty said it wasn’t easy to leave, but “you have to take care of the business.”