Kent & Tamarack helps owners of Johnstown and Milliken trade and service companies sell when the time is right. If you run an HVAC, plumbing, electrical, concrete, excavation, landscaping or other contracting company along the I-25 and Highway 34 corridor, you can start with a private, free call. You stay in control of who hears what and when.
Johnstown has changed more in the last ten years than most Colorado towns change in fifty. That change shapes what your company is worth and who wants to buy it.
From a railroad town to an interchange town
Johnstown began in the early 1900s when a homesteader named Harvey Parish saw the Great Western Railway building near his land and platted a town. It was named for his young son, John. For most of its history it was a quiet farm town, sitting just west of where the Big Thompson and Little Thompson rivers meet. Greeley is about ten miles to the east-northeast and Loveland about nine miles to the northwest.
Then the town reached west to the interstate. Johnstown annexed land near the interstate around 2000, and the area around I-25 and Highway 34 filled in. Scheels opened a large store at the Johnstown Plaza in 2017. The 2534 district grew up next to it. A Kroger fulfillment center went in near Highway 34 to serve King Soopers home delivery. Buc-ee's built a large travel center, and the Ledge Rock Center was planned around a grocery store and a ranch supply store. KUNC, the public radio station, reported in early 2024 that millions of square feet of homes, stores and distribution space were built or planned in the town.
Census Bureau estimates show Johnstown grew from about 17,300 people in 2020 to about 20,600 in 2024, around 19 percent in four years. The town sits in both Larimer and Weld counties, with most of its people on the Weld side.
More homes are on the way. KUNC reported that the Encore on 34 project was planned for about 900 single-family homes and 560 apartments on 453 acres. For a service company, each of those homes is a future furnace, water heater, sprinkler system and roof. A buyer who is thinking ten years ahead will notice that the customer base here is still growing, and that an established local name has a head start on it.
Two kinds of Johnstown trade companies
Owners here tend to fall into one of two groups, and a buyer will want to know which one you are.
The long-time local company
You have served Johnstown, Milliken and the farms around them for years. Your customers are homeowners, farmers and small businesses who call you by name. Your work is repair, replacement and seasonal service. That kind of steady, repeat work is what many buyers want most.
The company that grew with the corridor
You moved to Johnstown, or grew fast here, because of the new building near the interchange. Much of your work is new construction: retail build-outs, warehouses, new homes and the roads and utilities that serve them. Your sales numbers may be strong, and a buyer will be interested. They will also ask what happens when this round of building is done.
Plenty of companies here are a bit of both. Either way, a buyer should see the real shape of your work.
What a buyer looks at in a corridor company
If your company grew with the new building around I-25, expect these questions:
- How many general contractors and builders you work for. A wide list is safer than one big name.
- Signed backlog. Work that is contracted and scheduled has value; work that is only talked about does not, until it is in writing.
- Service after the build, meaning whether you turned new buildings into maintenance contracts. A rooftop unit you installed at a store can become a service customer for years. That is the work a buyer values most.
- Warranty exposure. New installs carry warranty calls. A buyer will want to know how many and who covers them after closing.
- Your people. In a fast-growing area, every contractor is chasing the same skilled workers. A buyer will want to know your lead people are staying.
Location as a selling point
Johnstown's newer projects include retail, distribution and housing, with developers coming from Colorado and from states such as California, Arizona and Texas, as KUNC reported. The town's spot on I-25 and Highway 34 drew many of them.
For a trade company, that location means reach. From Johnstown you can get to Loveland, Greeley, Windsor, Berthoud and the Carbon Valley towns quickly, and the Denver area is down the interstate. A buyer who wants a base that covers all of Northern Colorado may see your shop as the right spot.
If you own your shop or yard near the interchange, the land may be worth much more than when you bought it. You can sell it with the company, keep it and lease it to the buyer, or sell it later on its own. Each choice changes what you take home, so we work it through with your accountant.
Who tends to buy
- Loveland, Fort Collins and Greeley companies that want a central base and your crew.
- Denver-area companies that want a Northern Colorado branch near the interstate.
- Local competitors who want your customers.
- Individual buyers moving to a growing town who want to own a business.
- Your own people, if someone is ready to run it.
A small town still talks
Johnstown has grown, but the old part of town and Milliken next door still work like small towns. Your name stays out of early talks with buyers. A buyer sees a short profile with no name, signs a confidentiality agreement, and shows they can pay before learning who you are. We reach you on your cell, and you choose when your crew and your contractors find out.
How the sale goes
Four steps: a private first call, an honest price range with the reasons behind it, a quiet search for the right buyer, and a clean close with your accountant and attorney. The steps are laid out here. Nearby owners can see our pages for Loveland, Firestone and the wider Northern Colorado region.
Call us
Call (983) 900-6537 and the founder will pick up. Tell us about your company, your work and what you want after the sale. The first call costs nothing and does not commit you to anything.