Delta is the county seat of Delta County, built where the Uncompahgre River runs into the Gunnison. A trader named Antoine Robidoux put up Fort Uncompahgre near here in 1828, and the town was incorporated in 1882. The 2020 census counted 9,035 people. U.S. 50 runs through as Main Street, Grand Junction is about 39 miles north, and Montrose Regional Airport is about 21 miles south.
If you own a plumbing, heating, electrical, roofing, well, septic or excavation company in Delta, Cedaredge, Hotchkiss, Paonia or anywhere else in the county, Kent & Tamarack can help you sell it. We work with owners of small trade and service companies and keep each sale private.
After the mines
Coal shaped the east end of Delta County for generations. Then, in the 2010s, the big coal mines of the North Fork Valley closed one after another, until only the West Elk Mine, just over the line in Gunnison County, was left. Hundreds of mining jobs went with them, and with fewer families in the valley, Paonia and Hotchkiss later combined their high schools into North Fork High School.
The county did not sit still. Local leaders pushed solar, organic farming and broadband. Delta-Montrose Electric Association put money into fiber internet across the region, which made it easier to run a business, or a home office, from a small town.
For a trade company, those years were hard. Some lost their mine work and had to find new customers. Many did. If yours is one of them, that history is worth showing. A buyer will want to see that your company found new work and held on to it.
Solar and new electrical work
Solar was one of the ideas people looked to when the mines closed. Solar Energy International, a training school for solar installers, is based in Paonia, and rooftop systems have gone up on homes, farms and shops across the county.
That push brought new kinds of jobs for electricians and installers. Panels, batteries, panel upgrades and wiring for home offices all bring calls. If your company has built a solar or low-voltage side to its business, a buyer will want to know how much of your income comes from it, whether that work repeats or comes as one-time installs, and who on your crew holds the know-how. Installs bring in money, but service and repair on systems already in the ground is what a buyer counts on year after year, so show both.
Orchards, ranches and retirees
Agriculture has stayed steady through it all. Orchards around Paonia grow peaches, apples, cherries, pears and plums, and ranches spread across the county. When coal fell away, the farms and ranches were still there.
Farms and ranches need wells, pumps, irrigation, fencing, shop wiring and equipment repair. Fruit growers need cold storage and power that does not fail during harvest. Retirees who have moved to the area need heating, plumbing and home repairs from a company they trust.
A buyer looking at a Delta company sees a mix of rural, town and farm work. We help them understand it by showing who your customers are, how long they have used you, and what share of your income comes from each kind of work.
A county of small towns and long drives
Delta County is a string of small towns: Delta, Cedaredge on the way up Grand Mesa, Orchard City, Hotchkiss, Paonia and Crawford. Highway 92 starts in Delta and heads east toward the North Fork. Highway 65 climbs north over Grand Mesa toward I-70.
A Delta trade company may drive an hour to reach a customer. A buyer will ask how your crews plan routes, where you get parts, and how you handle a call from the far end of the county in winter. Clear answers show a company that has solved these problems for years.
The federal and county offices in town
Delta is home to the headquarters for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. The county hospital is in Delta, and Technical College of the Rockies, a small trade school, trains students in town. Public buildings like these need service work too, sometimes through bids and contracts.
If you hold that kind of work, bring the paperwork. Show when contracts renew and who on your crew handles them. A buyer values steady public accounts as long as they will stay with the company after you leave.
Who buys in Delta County
The local buyer pool is small. Buyers here are usually a key employee, a family member, or a competitor who wants more of the county. Companies from Montrose or Grand Junction may want to add Delta County without opening a shop here. People who move to the area for the orchards and open space sometimes want to buy a working business.
Small-town deals frequently include seller financing, where part of the price is paid to you over a few years. It widens the pool of buyers, but it also means you carry some risk. We explain it plainly and work with your attorney on terms that protect you.
Privacy in a small county
Delta County is the kind of place where people know your truck. We describe your company to buyers without your name or any detail a local could match. A buyer sees who you are only after signing a confidentiality agreement. You choose when your crew and your customers hear the news.
Value, steps and a phone call
A valuation looks at what the company earns for an owner in a normal year, how much of the work repeats, the crew, the equipment, the records and how the business held up through the changes of the last decade. We give you an honest range and the reasons for it.
Every sale follows four steps: a private first call, a fair value range, a quiet search for the right buyer, and a close done with your own accountant and attorney. Read the steps. Plumbing owners can also read our page on selling a plumbing business.
Call (983) 900-6537. The founder answers. For neighbors to the south, see Montrose.