Geotech Engineering & Materials Testing, 28-Year Ohio CMT Firm

$3.0M

Revenue

$660K

SDE

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Full Editorial Writeup

This is a privately-owned engineering consulting firm founded in 1996 that specializes in geotechnical engineering, construction materials testing (CMT), and inspection services across a major Ohio market. The company tests soil, concrete, asphalt, and steel for the entities that build highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, distribution centers, hotels, and private developments. In plain terms, when someone builds a structure that has to meet code and not fall down, this firm is the one certifying the dirt and the materials underneath it.

The customer base is diversified and project-driven: private developers, architects, contractors, engineers, municipalities, and state agencies. That mix matters because it spreads the firm across commercial, residential, and industrial construction, roadway work, sewer lines, and bridges rather than tying it to a single end market. Management notes that the majority of business comes from repeat clients and referrals, which is a strong signal for a technical services firm where trust and credentials are the moat.

At $3M in revenue, $660k EBITDA, 23 employees, and a 7,200 square foot office, warehouse, and lab, this is a real operating business with roughly 22% margins. It sits in the infrastructure and construction testing niche, which benefits from code-mandated inspection requirements but is still cyclical with construction activity. The seller is stepping away for other life objectives and is offering seller financing plus transition training.

Why we like it

Earnings quality is solid for a services firm: $660k EBITDA on $3M revenue is a 22% margin, and the work is largely non-discretionary because CMT and inspection are code-mandated for public and private construction. The buyer is paying for a credentialed, licensed operation that clients cannot legally skip on most projects.
The moat is reputation plus credentials in a technical field where switching carries real risk. Management states the majority of revenue comes from repeat clients and referrals across developers, contractors, engineers, and state agencies, which is exactly the kind of relationship-driven stickiness that keeps competitors out and pricing firm.
The customer and project diversification is a genuine strength. Serving highways, bridges, schools, hospitals, distribution centers, and private developments across commercial, residential, and industrial work means no single project or client category can sink the year, which smooths the inherent lumpiness of construction cycles.
There is a clear operator advantage because this is a boots-on-the-ground firm with 23 employees and no indication of an institutional buyer owning the space. An acquirer who adds disciplined business development, a second office, or added service lines can grow EBITDA meaningfully without reinventing the delivery model.

How to improve it

Build a real sales and business development function. The listing flags that leveraging the firm's reputation to penetrate new and existing markets is easily attainable, which usually means the owner has been the de facto rainmaker and no one is systematically chasing new accounts. Hire or assign a dedicated BD lead tied to a project pipeline in the first 90 days.
Pursue geographic expansion into adjacent Ohio metros or neighboring states. A CMT lab is largely replicable, and a second satellite location near active construction corridors extends the service radius without duplicating back-office overhead. Target markets with heavy state DOT and infrastructure spending.
Add or deepen service lines that attach to existing clients. Environmental testing, special inspections, pavement engineering, and forensic investigation all ride on the same client relationships and credentials, raising revenue per account without new customer acquisition cost.
Invest in automation and digital reporting to compress turnaround time. The listing itself cites AI and automation as growth levers. Faster field-to-report cycles and a client portal improve margins and give the firm a tangible edge in competitive bids against slower local shops.
Formalize certification capacity and chase code-mandated recurring inspection work. Prioritize winning municipal and state agency testing contracts and on-call agreements, which produce predictable multi-year volume rather than one-off project awards, improving the quality and visibility of the revenue base.
Tighten utilization and billing on field technicians. With 23 employees in a labor-driven model, small gains in billable hours, overtime management, and project scheduling flow directly to the 22% EBITDA margin. Install KPI tracking on tech utilization within the first quarter.

Diligence notes

Confirm the key-person risk around licensed engineers and the owner. Geotechnical and materials work requires a licensed Professional Engineer to stamp reports, so verify that the required PE licensure resides with staff who are staying, not just the departing owner, and lock those people in with retention agreements before closing.
Scrutinize revenue durability given the project-based model. The firm describes repeat and referral business, but CMT work is still won project by project. Pull a client-level revenue schedule for the last three years to see concentration, repeat rates, and how much of the $3M is backlog versus hoped-for pipeline.
Stress-test the cyclicality. Construction materials testing volume tracks construction starts, so request revenue and EBITDA through the last downturn or at least 2020 to 2024 to understand how the top line behaves when private development and public bidding slow.
Verify the facility and equipment situation. The 7,200 square foot office, warehouse, and lab is clearly used in delivery. Confirm whether it is leased or owned, the lease terms and transferability, and the age, calibration status, and replacement cost of lab and field testing equipment, none of which appear to be included in the price.
Validate the EBITDA and the absence of a disclosed asking price. Generational Equity is the broker and no price is listed, so request the teaser financials, normalize for owner compensation and any add-backs, and establish the multiple before committing time, since a $660k EBITDA services firm can swing widely on quality of earnings.

Source

Originally listed on BizBuySell. View original listing →