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Full Editorial Writeup
This is a commercial general contracting, construction management, and owner's representative firm founded in 2004, operating nationwide from a single Illinois headquarters. The company targets non-residential projects ranging from $1 million to $30 million across corporate, institutional, educational, healthcare, religious, non-profit, and government end markets. It has held federal past performance credentials since 2009 across military, veterans, and energy agencies, which is a meaningful barrier to entry that takes years and clean execution to earn.
What makes this operation notable is the degree of systematization. The business runs on 25 position-and-procedure manuals plus a 22-document internal how-to library covering everything from initial targeting and bidding through field execution, administration, and final commissioning. The owner reports the company runs effectively in his absence while he focuses on governance and strategy, and the 2025 OSHA filing shows zero recordable injuries. On $21.3M in revenue the business throws off $2.88M in cash flow and $2.24M in EBITDA, with a $26.4M contracted backlog and surety capacity supporting single bonds up to $40M and an aggregate program above $80M.
The seller claims a close rate at or above 80% on targeted pursuits and positions the firm as facing little real competition for the specific opportunities it chases, driven by reputation and repeat/multiphase work. It is offered debt free as a member sale at $11.5M, roughly 4x cash flow, with the seller citing retirement as the reason for exit.
Why we like it
- Earnings quality is strong for a contractor, with $2.88M cash flow and $2.24M EBITDA on $21.3M revenue and a $26.4M signed-and-awarded backlog that de-risks the first year of ownership. The business is sold debt free, so a buyer inherits clean working capital and bonding capacity rather than hidden liabilities.
- The moat here is real and uncommon for the trade: federal past performance dating to 2009 plus surety capacity up to $40M single and $80M aggregate are credentials competitors cannot simply buy. Combined with a stated 80%+ close rate on targeted pursuits and heavy repeat/multiphase work, this is a reputation-driven book that outsiders struggle to replicate quickly.
- The construction management channel carries 30% to 45% gross margins versus roughly 10% on general contracting, yet it was only 13.6% of 2025 revenue. Shifting mix toward fee-based CM is a clear path to expanding margins without taking on more balance-sheet or execution risk.
- This is one of the rare contractors genuinely built to run without the owner. Twenty-five role manuals, a 22-document how-to library, and an owner who already focuses only on governance and strategy mean a competent operator or hired director can step in without the business collapsing around a departing founder.
How to improve it
- Hire the director-level construction leadership role the seller already flagged. An adroit leader in this seat lets the firm run additional concurrent projects against the same overhead, directly converting existing backlog capacity into incremental revenue.
- Shift revenue mix toward fee-based construction management. At 30% to 45% gross margins versus 10% on GC work, moving CM from 13.6% of revenue toward 25-30% would meaningfully lift blended margins and cash flow without adding bonding exposure.
- Rebuild the top of the pursuit funnel. Tracked prospects fell from 284 in 2024 to 256 in 2025, and with an 80%+ close rate the constraint is clearly lead volume, not conversion. Reinvesting in the existing BD and marketing process to restore and grow prospect count should drop straight through to bookings.
- Formalize the federal pipeline as a dedicated growth lane. With past performance since 2009 across military, veterans, and energy agencies, a buyer should staff a GovCon capture function to systematically chase set-asides and IDIQ vehicles rather than taking federal work opportunistically.
- Resolve the facility question deliberately. The month-to-month $8,000 lease expiring 12/31/2027 is shared with an allied-industry related-party co-tenant, so a buyer should negotiate a clean arms-length lease or relocate to remove related-party entanglement and rent risk.
- Codify the owner's governance and relationship role before he leaves. The policies cover execution well, but client, surety, and agency relationships likely still route through the founder; document these and transition them during the negotiated handover to protect renewal and repeat work.
- Use the surety headroom as a growth lever. With single-bond capacity to $40M and aggregate above $80M against current revenue near $21M, there is substantial unused bonding capacity to pursue larger or more concurrent projects once leadership depth is in place.
Diligence notes
- Scrutinize backlog quality and margin, not just the headline. Verify that the $26.4M of signed and awarded contracts is genuinely contracted (not pipeline), confirm expected gross margin by project, and check for any underwater or low-margin jobs that could erode the first-year earnings picture.
- Stress-test the 'runs in the owner's absence' claim against reality. With only 12 employees and a founder who owns governance, strategy, and likely the key client and surety relationships, confirm how much goodwill walks out the door and whether the remaining team can originate work.
- Examine the related-party co-tenant and month-to-month lease closely. Rent at $8,000/month with a related party sharing the facility and a 2027 lease expiration raises questions about arms-length terms, allocated costs, and whether reported cash flow is clean of related-party subsidies.
- Validate surety relationships and their portability. Bonding capacity is the lifeblood of this business, so confirm the surety's appetite under new ownership, personal guarantee requirements, and whether the stated $40M/$80M program survives a change of control and the founder's departure.
- Reconcile the gap between $2.88M cash flow and $2.24M EBITDA, and normalize both. Identify exactly which owner add-backs bridge the two figures, confirm they are legitimate and recurring-adjusted, and verify revenue recognition (percentage-of-completion) is not inflating current-year earnings.
- Investigate customer and project concentration plus federal compliance. Determine how much revenue comes from the largest clients and any single multiphase relationship, and confirm the federal past performance, certifications, and OSHA record are current and transferable to a buyer.
Source
- Established CT Survey & Civil Engineering Firm, 100-Year New Haven County Practice
- Nationwide Contracting Distribution & Service Co - Multi-Service Construction Platform
- St. Louis Underground Utility Contractor, 38-Year Water & Sewer Specialist
- TX Fiber Optic Telecom Construction Contractor, 20-Year Texas OSP Utility Builder
- Railroad Construction & Maintenance Company, Midwest & Southeast Rail Infrastructure Contractor
- MEP & Fire Protection Engineering Firm, 2006 Manhattan Consultancy
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