Kent & Tamarack helps owners of trade and service companies in Sterling and the rest of northeast Colorado sell when they are ready to step back. If you run a farm equipment repair, irrigation, welding, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, trucking or construction company in Logan County, the first call is private and free. You decide every step after that.
Selling a company on the plains is different from selling one in Fort Collins or Denver. There are fewer buyers nearby, and everyone knows everyone. It can be done well, but it takes more planning and more patience.
The hub of the northeast plains
Sterling is the county seat of Logan County and the largest city on Colorado's Eastern Plains. It sits on Interstate 76 and the South Platte River, about 128 miles northeast of Denver. Greeley and Fort Collins are each roughly two hours away by road. Census Bureau estimates put the city at about 13,100 people in 2024, a little lower than in 2020.
Sterling was settled in the late 1800s and grew around the railroad. Farming has always been the base of the economy here, and sugar beets were an important crop for many years. Today Sterling is the main shopping and service town for much of northeast Colorado, with big-box stores, Main Street shops, banks, Sterling Regional MedCenter and local media.
Several large public employers anchor the town. One is Sterling Correctional Facility, a large state prison run by the Colorado Department of Corrections. Northeastern Junior College enrolls more than 1,500 students a year. The RE-1 Valley School District and the regional health center also employ many local people.
What trade work looks like in Logan County
A Sterling trade company often does a little of everything, because there is no one else nearby to call.
- Farm and ranch work: irrigation pumps and pivots, grain bins, shop buildings, livestock water, fencing and equipment repair.
- Ag electrical: pivot wiring, pump panels, grain dryers and three-phase service on farms.
- Homes and Main Street: furnaces, boilers, water heaters, drains, roofs and remodels in older houses and downtown buildings.
- Institutional work. The prison, the college, the schools and the hospital all need ongoing maintenance and repair.
- Oil and gas field work, which some companies in the area also do for producers.
Your service area may be huge. Many Sterling companies cover Logan County and reach into Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick and Washington counties, and sometimes into Nebraska. That reach is part of your value, and a buyer will want to understand it.
What a buyer looks for in a plains company
Steady customers
Farmers who have called you for twenty years, institutional contracts, and homeowners who would not call anyone else are the base of your value. We help you show how long these relationships have lasted.
Contracts and how they renew
Work for the prison, the college, the school district or the county may be bid every few years. A buyer will want to know what is signed, when it comes up again, and how you have won it before.
Seasons
Farm work peaks at planting and harvest. Irrigation is busy in spring and summer. Heating work peaks in winter. We show the full year so a buyer does not misread a slow month.
Your crew
Skilled people are hard to find on the plains. A buyer will want to know who your key people are and whether they will stay. If one of them could run the company, that may make them your best buyer.
Equipment and buildings
Plains companies tend to own a lot of trucks, trailers, lifts and tools, plus a shop on its own land. A buyer will want a list with age and condition. Real estate in Sterling costs less than on the Front Range, so the building may be a smaller share of the deal than it would be in Fort Collins, but it still matters.
Who buys a company in Sterling
Finding a buyer in a small town takes a wider search, and the right buyer is often closer than you think.
- An employee or family member, often the best fit. They know the customers and the work. They usually need a bank loan, and some of the price may be paid to you over time.
- A competitor in the region. A company in Fort Morgan, Brush, Holyoke or Yuma may want your customers and crew.
- A Front Range company. A Greeley or Fort Collins company that already does farm or plant work may want a base on the plains.
- An individual buyer. Some people want a small-town life and a working business. These buyers care a lot about whether the company runs without the owner.
Payments over time
In smaller towns, it is common for part of the price to be paid to the seller over a few years. This is called seller financing. It can make a sale possible when a buyer cannot borrow the full amount, and it can bring you a higher total price. It also means you are trusting the buyer to keep the company healthy. We help you decide how much risk you are willing to take, and your attorney writes in protections.
Privacy in a town where everyone knows your truck
In Sterling, a stranger asking about your company gets noticed. That is why your name stays out of the first round of talks. A buyer sees a short profile with no name and no town, then signs a confidentiality agreement and shows they can close before learning more. We call your cell, after hours if you like, and we meet away from your shop. You decide when your crew, your customers and the town hear.
The four steps
Every sale goes through a private first call, an honest price range with the reasons, a quiet search for the right buyer, and a clean close with your accountant and attorney. You can read the steps here. If you also work on the Front Range, see our pages for Greeley, Fort Collins and Northern Colorado.
Talk to the founder
Call (983) 900-6537. The founder answers. Tell us about your company, your crew and your plans. Many plains owners start talking a year or two before they want to retire, so there is time to find the right person. The first call is free and private.