Lafayette began with coal. In 1884, coal turned up on the farm of Mary Miller, and in 1888 she founded the town and named it after her late husband. Mines, miners' houses, stores and boarding houses followed. When the last mine, the Black Diamond, closed in 1956, the town went back to farming for a time, and then grew into the city it is now. About 30,000 people lived here at the 2020 census.
That history still shapes the place. Old Town Lafayette, centered on Public Road, has blocks of small older houses and storefronts. Around it are newer neighborhoods, shopping along South Boulder Road and a hospital campus. If you own a trade or service company here, your customers probably come from every part of that mix.
Kent & Tamarack helps owners of trade and service companies in Lafayette sell when they are ready, quietly and on their own terms. The founder answers the phone at (983) 900-6537.
A crossroads town
Lafayette sits in southeastern Boulder County where US 287 and Highway 7 cross. US 287 is the main road through the city, running south toward Broomfield and Denver. Highway 7 runs west to Boulder and east to Brighton. Erie, Louisville and Broomfield all share a border with Lafayette.
That location matters for a trade company. A crew leaving a Lafayette shop at seven in the morning can be in Boulder, Erie, Louisville, Superior or Broomfield before the first coffee is gone. Many local companies serve all of them.
For a buyer, a Lafayette company can be a central base for the whole southeast corner of the county. We show your job map town by town so the buyer sees exactly how far your work reaches.
Old houses, new houses, and a hospital
The older homes in and around Old Town need the kind of work that never stops: replacing old water lines and sewer lines, updating electrical panels, swapping furnaces and boilers, fixing roofs. Some of the smaller houses have been remodeled more than once. Plumbers, electricians and HVAC companies who know how these houses are built have the edge.
The newer neighborhoods bring a different kind of work: maintenance, warranty-age repairs, landscape and irrigation care, and upgrades as owners finish basements or add cooling.
Then there is the medical campus. Good Samaritan Medical Center has been in Lafayette since the mid-2000s and is part of Intermountain Health. In July 2026 Intermountain announced that AdventHealth will take over day-to-day operations of the hospital in early 2027. A hospital and the clinics, offices and services that grow up around it need contractors who answer fast and know the rules for working in health care buildings. A company with that kind of commercial work has income that holds steady when homeowners cut back.
A city that invests in its older areas
Lafayette has an urban renewal authority, known as LURA, and a downtown development authority. LURA runs facade improvement programs, and the downtown authority offers matching grants for building improvements to downtown commercial property. The city also offers grants to help preserve older buildings: those 50 years and older can qualify for awards of $500 to $2,000. That has meant public money going into older commercial areas, along with new businesses and building updates.
For contractors, that kind of reinvestment means storefront remodels, new tenant finish, mechanical and electrical upgrades and site work. If your company has done much of that work locally, it helps show a buyer that you have relationships with local property owners and the city.
What helps a Lafayette company sell
A buyer looks at what the company earns for its owner in a normal year, then at how dependable those earnings are. In a Lafayette company, we look at these first:
Start with repeat work. Maintenance plans, service agreements and commercial customers who call every season count for a lot.
Then the crew. Housing near Boulder is expensive, and good techs are hard to find. A crew that has stayed for years is a strong selling point. A buyer will want to know who your key people are and whether they will stay.
Next, how much depends on you. In a smaller city, many customers know the owner by name. A plan for introducing the buyer, and an office person or field lead who already handles day-to-day contact, reduces the risk a buyer sees.
Last, what comes with the sale: trucks, tools, inventory, the phone number, the website and the shop or yard. We make a simple list with condition and age.
We give you a range with reasons once we have looked at the books. If something is holding the value down, you hear it from us first, with ideas for fixing it.
Telling people, in the right order
Owners worry most about who finds out and when. In a town of about 30,000, the worry makes sense.
The order usually runs like this. Your accountant and attorney hear first, because they help get the numbers and papers ready. Buyers hear about the company without your name, then learn who you are only after signing a confidentiality agreement. Your family hears whenever you choose.
Your crew comes near the end, once a deal is close and the buyer's plans for them are clear. Most people want to know two things: whether their job is safe and who they will report to. A good buyer has answers ready.
Your best customers come last, often with a joint visit or call from you and the new owner. Done that way, a sale feels like a handoff instead of a surprise, and most customers stay.
Who buys here
Companies from Boulder, Longmont, Broomfield or Denver that want more customers in east Boulder County. Groups that buy several companies in one trade. Private buyers, often with management experience, who want to own a company in a town they like. And key employees who want to take over, sometimes with part of the price paid over time.
Each offer looks different. We put them side by side and explain the cash at closing, the payments after, and what each buyer expects from you.
How it works
Four steps: a free and private first call, an honest value range with reasons, a quiet search for the right buyer, and a clean close with your accountant and attorney. Read the steps.
For the rest of the county, see our Boulder County page. Neighbors in Louisville, Erie and Broomfield each have their own page. To talk, email hello@kentandtamarack.com or call the founder at (983) 900-6537.