Gunnison is the county seat of Gunnison County, at about 7,700 feet in a wide valley ringed by mountains. The 2020 census counted 6,560 people, and the Census Bureau's estimate for July 2024 was about 6,800. Western Colorado University is here, founded in 1901 as the Colorado State Normal School, a school for teachers. Blue Mesa Reservoir lies to the west, Crested Butte sits up the valley to the north, and U.S. 50 is the main road through town.
Kent & Tamarack helps owners of trade and service companies in the Gunnison Valley sell their business. If you run a plumbing, heating, electrical, excavation, building, snow removal or property care company in Gunnison or Crested Butte, we can help you sell it privately and on terms you understand.
Cold enough to make a heating company
Cold air settles into this valley at night, which makes Gunnison one of the coldest towns in Colorado in winter. Long, hard winters mean frozen lines, heating failures and service calls at all hours.
For heating and plumbing companies, that cold is the business. Winter is when the phone rings. A buyer from a milder place may not understand how much of your year happens between November and March, or how important it is that someone answers at 3 AM. We show that pattern in your numbers and explain it in plain words.
The same is true for snow removal and property care. Contracts to plow driveways, shovel roofs and check empty homes can be the backbone of a company here. Written, renewing contracts are worth more in a sale than handshake deals, so put them on paper if you can.
Ranch country and a college town
Ranching came early here. Settlers found too little rain for most crops and turned to cattle instead. The Cattlemen's Days rodeo, held since 1900, still marks that history each year, and ranch work is still part of the valley's economy. Ranches need wells, stock tanks, shop wiring, fencing and equipment repair, and ranch families stay with the same company for decades.
Western Colorado University brings a different kind of customer: large buildings, dorms and offices that need service on a schedule. It also brings young people to town, and a few of them may be the techs you hire next. If you serve ranches, the university or both, show a buyer how long those customers have stayed with you.
Two towns, one workforce
The Gunnison Valley has a split that shapes every trade company here. Many of the high-paying jobs are up valley, around Crested Butte and its ski area, where many homes belong to people who live elsewhere. Many of the workers live down valley in Gunnison, where housing costs less. A free bus runs between the two.
The valley's 2024 housing needs assessment estimated that 1,300 to 1,550 homes are needed by 2029 to house local residents and workers. It also found that 47 percent of the people who work in the north valley commute up from the south valley, where Gunnison sits, and that housing priced under $500,000 is now scarce everywhere in the valley.
For a trade company, this means your crew lives in Gunnison and drives north to work, or you base in Crested Butte and struggle to house anyone. A buyer will ask how you keep people. Show how long your techs have stayed, where they live, and any housing you provide. A stable crew is one of the strongest things you can offer.
Second homes up the valley
Crested Butte homeowners who spend part of the year somewhere else pay well to have their houses kept safe in a place where a dead boiler in January can burst every pipe in the house. They hand over keys and alarm codes to a company they trust, and they stay with that company for years.
A buyer sees that loyalty and asks one question: is it loyalty to the company or to you? If the homeowners text your personal number, the answer is you. Start shifting that now. Introduce a second tech to each client. Keep house notes, such as where the water shutoff is and how the heat is set, in a file the whole office can reach. Send the yearly reminder from the company, not from your phone. By the time a buyer looks, those clients should already know more than one face.
Getting in and out of the valley
The main ways in are over Monarch Pass from Salida to the east and over Cerro Summit from Montrose to the west. The Gunnison-Crested Butte Regional Airport has commercial flights. Parts and special orders take time to arrive, and a storm can close a pass.
A buyer will want to know how you handle supply. Where do your parts come from? How much do you keep on hand? What happens when the pass closes for a day? Clear answers show a company that has dealt with mountain logistics for years.
Who buys in the Gunnison Valley
The buyer pool is small. The most likely buyers are a key employee, a local competitor, or someone who loves the valley and wants to move here with a working business. Some companies from Montrose or Salida may want a base on this side of the pass. Many deals here include seller financing, where part of the price is paid to you over time. We explain it plainly and work with your attorney on terms.
What your company is worth
A fair valuation looks at what the company earns for an owner in a normal year, how steady that is through the seasons, the crew and its housing, the equipment, written contracts and the records. You get an honest range and the reasons for it.
The steps and the phone
We follow four steps: a private first call, an honest value range, a quiet buyer search and a close handled with your own accountant and attorney. See the steps. Heating owners can read about selling an HVAC business.
Call (983) 900-6537. The founder answers. Over the passes, see Salida and Montrose.