Agri Structure Installation & Project Management, 60-Year Nebraska Contractor · Accredited

Published OCT 29, 2026

Agri Structure Installation & Project Management, 60-Year Nebraska Contractor

Grand Island, Nebraska

$3.9M

Revenue

$693K

SDE

3.6x

Multiple

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Andy

Ben Sampson

Full Editorial Writeup

This is a 60-year-old Nebraska contractor specializing in the installation and project management of pre-manufactured structures and farm-focused buildings. The project mix spans steel buildings, pole barns, grain bins, storage and garages, and airplane hangars, serving a diverse repeat client base of farmers and ranchers, commercial building owners, schools, and government entities. The company is lean by design: 8 full-time employees including a General Manager who runs day-to-day operations, 2 crew foremen, an office administrator, and 4 field laborers, all operating out of a low-overhead office costing just $1,500 per month.

The economics are attractive on paper. On $3.89M of revenue the business throws off $692,663 in cash flow, roughly an 18% margin, and comes with $1.1M of hard assets ($421k vehicles, $646k machinery and equipment, ~$100k working capital). More importantly for a buyer, it transfers with a loaded order book: nearly $2.0M in work-in-progress backlog and $1.57M in pipeline. That is more than a full year of forward revenue already identified at close, which de-risks the first 12 months considerably.

What makes this deal notable is the combination of a manager-run operating structure and seller alignment. The owner only checks in twice per week, meaning the business is already run by its GM rather than the exiting founder, a real asset in any succession-driven sale. The seller is retiring and has offered to carry 20% of the purchase price, which signals confidence in continuity and reduces the equity check a buyer needs to write.

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How to improve it

Audit the backlog-to-cash conversion in the first 90 days and tighten project scheduling to pull the $1.99M WIP through faster. Faster completion means faster billing and improved working capital turns, which directly lifts owner cash flow without new sales. Map which project types carry the best margins and prioritize crew allocation accordingly.
Formalize a quoting and lead-generation engine, since much of the pipeline likely runs on word of mouth and the GM's relationships. Add a simple CRM, track bid win rates, and build a referral program with existing farm and commercial clients. Even a modest bump in quote volume compounds given the no-restriction territory.
Expand geographically into adjacent Nebraska and neighboring-state counties where no non-compete or territory cap exists. A second crew or a subcontractor network could double addressable project volume without proportional overhead given the $1,500/mo office footprint. Start with markets where grain-bin and steel-building demand is visibly growing.
Diversify the revenue mix toward higher-margin, lower-cyclicality government and institutional work (schools, municipal storage, hangars). Pursuing bid lists and public RFPs smooths out the farm-income cyclicality that drives discretionary ag spending. Build relationships with regional procurement offices to create a repeatable channel.
Lock in the GM and crew foremen with retention agreements and incentive comp before close, because this business is only as valuable as its operating team. Losing the GM post-close would gut the thesis given the absentee structure. Consider a modest equity or profit-share to align the people who actually run the shop.
Build a service and maintenance follow-on offering for installed structures (grain-bin service, door and hardware maintenance, inspections). This would layer recurring-style revenue onto a project-based model and deepen the repeat-client relationship. It also creates a warm channel to re-sell new structures when clients expand.

Diligence notes

Verify the $1.99M backlog and $1.57M pipeline with signed contracts, deposits, and change-order history, not just estimates. Project-based businesses can show inflated pipelines, so confirm what is contracted versus merely quoted and check cancellation rates. Also test how much of the backlog is concentrated in a few large jobs or clients.
Scrutinize customer concentration across the farmer, commercial, school, and government segments. A handful of large repeat buyers or a single government contract could carry outsized risk if relationships are personal to the owner or GM. Pull a multi-year revenue-by-customer schedule to confirm the diversification the listing claims.
Stress-test the absentee model by confirming the GM's tenure, compensation, non-compete status, and willingness to stay post-close. The entire thesis rests on the GM running operations, so understand what happens if that person leaves. Interview the foremen and office admin to gauge depth beyond the single key manager.
Confirm the condition, age, and ownership status of the $421k vehicles and $646k machinery, including whether any are leased or financed. Deferred maintenance or aging equipment could require capex that erodes the stated cash flow. Get a recent equipment appraisal and reconcile the $1.1M asset figure to a current asset list.
Normalize the $692,663 SDE for the current owner's minimal involvement, since a twice-a-week owner adds back little salary. If a buyer needs to hire additional management or replace owner functions, true operating earnings may be lower than headline SDE. Review 3 years of tax returns against the add-back schedule to validate margins in a cyclical ag market.
Investigate cyclicality tied to farm income, commodity prices, and interest rates, all of which drive discretionary ag construction spend. Grain-bin and pole-barn demand can soften materially in a weak farm economy, so map historical revenue through prior down years. Understand how much of the book is counter-cyclical government and school work versus farm-dependent.