Longmont has always been its own town. A group from Chicago founded it in 1871 as the Chicago-Colorado Colony, and it grew up as a farming and market center along St. Vrain Creek. About 99,000 people lived in the city at the 2020 census, spread across Boulder and Weld counties. Downtown sits roughly 15 miles from Boulder and 34 miles from downtown Denver, with US 287 running through the middle as Main Street and Highway 119 reaching east to I-25.
Many people both live and work here. For a trade or service company, that makes for a solid base of homes, shops, plants and offices, all inside a short drive.
Kent & Tamarack helps owners of those companies sell when they are ready, without the whole town hearing about it first. The founder answers the phone at (983) 900-6537.
A working city with real industry
Longmont mixes manufacturing, technology and health care with the usual small-city trades. The city's 2024 financial report lists St. Vrain Valley Schools, the city itself, UC Health Longs Peak Hospital, Seagate Technology and J.M. Smucker as its five largest employers. Longmont also has a well-known craft brewing scene, and the city built its own fiber network, NextLight, after a council vote in 2013.
Manufacturing is still growing here. In the city's economic report through the second quarter of 2025, sales and use tax from the manufacturing category was up 10.2 percent over the same period a year earlier.
For trade companies, that means steady demand. Plants, labs and breweries need mechanical, electrical and plumbing work all year. Compressed air, process piping, cooling, power distribution and roofing on large buildings are steady jobs for contractors who know them. A company that has built those relationships has income a buyer can plan around.
Old town, new edges
Longmont's housing tells the same story as its history. The older blocks near downtown have houses that go back generations, with the repairs that come with age: sewer lines, old wiring, aging boilers and furnaces, and roofs. Further out, newer neighborhoods fill in the edges of town, and the Weld County towns just over the line, such as Firestone, Frederick and Mead, add more customers within a short drive.
A Longmont company may work all of it in a single week. That spread helps in a sale. When new building slows on the edges, the older core keeps calling. When older homeowners hold off on a big project, the newer areas still need maintenance and warranty work.
The county line runs through your service area
Longmont sits right at the edge of Boulder County, and the city itself crosses into Weld. Many local companies serve both counties. Some also work up toward Berthoud and Loveland, or west to Lyons and the foothills.
For a buyer, that is an advantage. A Boulder County company sees a way into the Weld County towns. A Northern Colorado company sees a way into Boulder County. A Denver company sees a base on the north end of the metro, close to I-25.
We map where your work comes from, town by town, so each kind of buyer sees how your company fits theirs. We do this without your name on it.
Valuing a Longmont trade company
Owners ask us whether a business valuation in Longmont works differently than one in Denver. The method is the same. The details are not.
We start with what the company earns for its owner in a normal year. Then we look at the parts that push the value up or down:
- How much of the work is commercial and industrial maintenance that repeats.
- How much is homeowner service and repair, and how much is one-time project work.
- Whether a large share of revenue comes from a few customers.
- How long your techs have been with you and who holds the licenses.
- What trucks and equipment come with the sale, and their condition.
- Whether you own the shop or lease it, and what the lease says.
After we look, you get a range and the reasons behind it. Where something is holding the value down, we tell you what it would take to fix it, and you decide whether to fix it first or sell as is.
Who tends to buy
Longmont companies draw buyers from several directions. Larger companies from Boulder, Denver or Northern Colorado that want more customers in a growing area. Groups that buy several companies in one trade. Private buyers who want to own a company and live in a town that still has a main street. And sometimes the buyer is already on your crew.
A private buyer will likely lean on an SBA-backed bank loan, so clean books matter. A larger company may move faster but ask you to stay on for a while. An employee may need part of the price paid over time. We explain the trade-offs of each and put the offers side by side.
Keeping your crew through the sale
In most trade sales, the crew is half of what the buyer wants. Longmont is no exception. Good techs and installers are hard to replace anywhere along the Front Range, and a buyer will study who works for you, how long they have stayed and what they earn.
A few things help. Key people with clear roles. A field lead who already runs the schedule. Pay that is close to what other companies offer. Some owners set aside a small retention bonus, paid by the seller or the buyer, for the people who stay through the change.
Timing matters too. Most owners tell the crew close to the end, once a deal is nearly signed, and they do it together with the buyer. We help you plan what to say and who hears it first, so your best people hear it from you and not from a rumor at the supply house.
Privacy
Longmont is big enough to have many contractors and small enough that most of them know each other. We keep your company name out of every early conversation. Buyers sign a confidentiality agreement and show they can pay before they learn who you are, and we meet you outside work hours.
The steps
Every owner goes through four steps with us: a private first call, an honest value range, a quiet search for the right buyer, and a clean close with your accountant and attorney. See how a sale works.
For the rest of the county, see our Boulder County page. Owners nearby can also read our pages for Boulder and Erie, and owners who lean north can see our Northern Colorado page.
When you want to talk, email hello@kentandtamarack.com.