Dec. 29--Editor's note: Today, Business Plus unveils the Top 10 business stories of 2008, as chosen by the Camera business news staff.

1. The recession hits home

Things just seemed to snowball.

Nearly 12 months ago, fearing the economy could worsen amidst a housing slump and tightening credit, President George W. Bush called for a "shot in the arm." The more than $150 billion package was designed to give some tax relief and spending money to Americans.

By the time the rebates came through, fuel prices were flirting with $4, food prices were hard to stomach and some individuals were dealing with their own credit crisis.

During the coming months, the fear was realized. Wall Street faltered as some of the largest institutions tumbled. Credit locked up and the government worked to find solutions and create relief.

Nationally, more than 20 banks have failed, employers shed 533,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate climbed to 6.7 percent. In Boulder County, unemployment ticked up three-tenths of a percentage point in November to 4.8 percent.

The local area has not been immune from economic troubles. Publicly traded companies such as Sun Microsystems Inc., Crocs Inc., Level 3 Communications Inc. and AeroGrow International suffered hits to their earnings and laid off employees to cut costs. Privately held home-builder McStain Neighborhoods closed its home office, cut its staff and went virtual in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.

Seeing sales tax revenue starting to dry up, cities such as Boulder and Broomfield are trying to prepare budgets so essential city services will remain.

It's unclear how long the recession will last. Some economists and bankers say it could cease before the end of 2009, others say it could take longer.

2. ConocoPhillips comes to town

As expected, 2008 served as the year for the unveiling of the buyer of the 432-acre campus formerly home to Storage Technology Corp.

The buyer, on the other hand, didn't quite fit the profile of the high-tech giant -- such as Microsoft, Google and Apple -- speculated to be a suitor.

And that didn't seem to be a problem to members of the local business community.

It was revealed that Houston-based ConocoPhillips paid $58.5 million for the sprawling site off U.S. 36 and planned to open an energy research and development center and a global training facility on the site by 2012.

It's unknown how many people will be employed at the facilities when they open; however, company officials have said that their hope is to employ more than 7,000 people at its Louisville site in 20 to 25 years.

That eventual employment target would amount to a $400 million to $500 million payroll for ConocoPhillips, create a total economic impact in excess of $1 billion and make ConocoPhillips the fourth-largest employer in metro Denver's private sector -- behind Qwest, Lockheed Martin, HealthONE and Exempla Healthcare -- Tom Clark, of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp., said earlier this year.

3. Gas price roller-coaster ride

Not even two full days into 2008, oil prices touched the $100-a-barrel mark for the first time ever. The milestone was a symbol of increasing demand and shrinking supply, and also a sign of more to come.

Analysts at the time projected gas prices at the pump to be in the $3.50- to $4-per-gallon range in the summertime.

By mid-July, oil prices hit $140 a barrel and the national per-gallon average of regular unleaded gasoline hit record highs of $4.11, according to AAA.