Kent & Tamarack helps owners of trade and service companies in Boulder County sell their business on their own terms. If you run a plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, landscaping or cleaning company in Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, Superior or Niwot, we can help you find a buyer who will keep your crew and take care of your customers. Nobody hears about it until you say so.
Boulder County is not one market. It is a handful of small cities with different housing, different customers and, in some places, different building rules. A buyer who knows only Denver will miss most of that. Our job is to show a buyer what your company really is, in plain numbers.
A county of several small cities
Boulder and Longmont are now close to the same size. BizWest reported Census Bureau estimates in 2022 that put Longmont above 100,000 people for the first time, while the City of Boulder's estimate had dropped to about 104,000 from 108,250 in the 2020 census. Around them sit Lafayette, Louisville, Erie, Superior and Niwot, each with its own mix of older homes, newer subdivisions and small commercial buildings.
That mix shapes the work. In central Boulder you may service houses that are decades old, with tight crawl spaces and old wiring. In Erie or Superior the homes are newer, so the calls are more about maintenance, upgrades and warranty repairs. In Longmont you may have light industrial and commercial customers alongside homeowners. A company that has a steady base in more than one of these places is easier to sell than one that depends on a single neighborhood.
The Marshall Fire and the rebuild years
On December 30, 2021, the Marshall Fire burned through Louisville, Superior and unincorporated Boulder County. Boulder County's recovery page now counts 1,109 homes destroyed. As of December 1, 2025, the county reported building permits issued for 84 percent of them and certificates of occupancy for 75 percent.
Many local trade companies spent the years after the fire on rebuild work: framing, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC and landscaping for whole streets at once. That work paid, and it showed what a crew can do under pressure.
For a sale, though, a buyer will treat rebuild revenue as a special case. The question they ask is simple: what does this company earn when the rebuild is done? We help you answer it. We split your books into the rebuild work and the steady work, such as service calls, maintenance agreements, repeat commercial customers and normal remodels. Then we show both. A buyer who sees a clear line between the two trusts the rest of your numbers more.
If the rebuild years were your best years, say so and explain why. Buyers respect a plain answer.
Building codes that change the work
Energy rules shape a lot of the work in Boulder County. Since December 1, 2024, the City of Boulder's energy code requires new construction, additions and major alterations to be all-electric. Unincorporated Boulder County has its own code, called BuildSmart, for new homes and additions.
For HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies, this matters in a sale. A buyer will want to know how much of your work is heat pumps, electric water heaters and panel upgrades, and whether your techs are trained for it. A crew that already does this work is a strength you should show. If most of your revenue still comes from gas furnaces and boilers inside city limits, a buyer will ask how that holds up over the next few years. A straight answer, backed by your own job records, is better than a hopeful one.
Roofing, solar and construction companies have their own version of this question. We look at your trade and your customers, then put the answer in writing before a buyer asks.
Who buys trade companies here
Buyers for a Boulder County trade company tend to come from a few directions.
A Denver or Northern Colorado company may want to grow into Boulder County without starting from zero. Your crew, your phone number and your customer list are what they want to buy.
A local competitor may want your customers or your techs. These buyers know the area well, so we are careful about what they see and when.
Individual buyers also show up. They may be a manager from a larger company who wants to own something, or someone who wants to live in Boulder County and buy a business that already works. They often use a bank loan and care a great deal about how the company runs without you.
Some owners sell to a key employee or a family member. Those deals often pay part of the price over time, and we walk through how that works and what protects you.
What changes when you sell outside Denver
Shop rent, wages for good techs and the price of a house for anyone moving in all weigh on a buyer's math here. If you own your building in Longmont or Lafayette, it can be a real asset in the deal. Some owners sell it along with the company. Others keep the building and become the buyer's landlord.
Your customers may be loyal to you by name. That is common in small cities where the owner has done the work for years. A buyer will ask how those relationships move to them. A plan for introductions after the sale helps.
Word travels in a county this size. Louisville and Superior are small, and suppliers and other contractors talk. Your name stays out of every early conversation with buyers. A buyer has to sign a confidentiality agreement before we tell them which company it is.
How the sale works
There are four steps: a private first call, an honest price range with reasons, a quiet search for the right buyer, and a clean close with your accountant and attorney. See the four steps. If you are in HVAC or construction, our pages for HVAC owners and construction company owners go deeper on what buyers look for in your trade.
You decide who buys, what price you accept and when you step back.
Talk to us first
Call (983) 900-6537. The founder answers, and the call is private. If your company also works north of the county line, our page for Northern Colorado owners covers Fort Collins, Loveland and Greeley.