Machines fit equipment financing; materials and payroll between draws fit working capital or a line of credit. Loans on the property being built are outside this site.
At a glance
- Construction establishments with paid staff, Platte County, NE (CBP 2023)
115
- Paid employees in county construction, March 2023 pay period
1,137
- Specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238) with paid staff in the county
77
- Construction establishments with ZIP 68601 addresses (ZBP 2023)
92
Contractor Business Loans Explained With a Platte County, NE Contractor Buying Work Trucks
A contractor’s pickup with a utility body, or a dump truck that hauls its own spoil and materials, is equipment with a title and a VIN, and it can secure its own financing. Hauling freight for other companies is trucking, which is outside this site.
Illustration only, invented figures: a Platte County, NE contractor buys two used work trucks with service bodies for $96,000, puts $14,400 down and finances $81,600 at 9.75% a year over 60 months. The payment is $1,723.74 a month, and $21,824.40 of interest is paid across the term.
County Business Patterns put the 2023 annual payroll of Platte County, NE construction establishments at $78.1 million, a total for all 115 of them, with 1,137 paid employees in the March pay period.
Business Loans for HVAC Contractors: Compact Loaders and Equipment Repairs
An HVAC or plumbing contractor that trenches for lines or sets equipment pads may own a compact track loader or a mini excavator. The machine fits equipment financing. Furnaces, condensers and line sets held in the shop are the contractor’s stock, and inventory financing can carry them until they go out on a job.
A major repair is different. A rebuilt undercarriage or hydraulic pump does not add a new machine to stand as collateral, so it fits working capital. Illustration only, invented figures: an $8,400 undercarriage and hydraulic repair on a loader, financed over 9 months at 15% a year, comes to $992.63 a month and $533.67 of interest.
In 2023 the county counted 15 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors with paid staff (CBP, NAICS 238220), and a staff under five was the case at 9 of the 15.
Business Loan for General Contractor and Materials: Notes for Columbus, NE Contractors
A general contractor may order lumber, trusses, windows and doors before the first draw is paid. That material bill is a working capital need: a working capital loan or a line of credit drawn for the order and paid down when the draw clears. A loan for the building project itself, secured by the property, is real estate lending and outside this site.
Illustration only, invented figures: a contractor places a $42,000 material order 40 days before the first draw arrives and covers it from a line at 11.5% a year. If the full amount stays drawn for the 40 days, interest is about $529.32.
Construction of buildings (NAICS 236) accounted for 34 of the county’s construction establishments with paid staff in 2023, and 18 of the 34 had fewer than five employees (CBP). The 2024 Nonemployer Statistics counted 101 building construction businesses (NAICS 236) in Platte County, NE with no paid employees.
Construction Equipment Financing and Cash Between Draws at a Columbus, NE Contractor
Construction equipment financing and cash between draws answer different questions. The first pays for a machine over its working life. The second covers the weeks when crews and suppliers are paid before the owner or general contractor pays the draw. Mixing them, such as paying for a machine out of a short line, can leave the line full when the next payroll comes due.
Illustration only, invented figures: a contractor finances a $71,000 used mini excavator at 10.25% a year over 60 months: $1,517.29 a month. On the same job, a 40-day wait for a draw holds 2 or 3 biweekly payrolls, depending on the first payday. At $11,200 a payroll, that is $22,400 to $33,600 to carry until the draw clears, which is the kind of gap a line of credit is built for.
The construction overhead worksheet has a payment calculator that works out level payments for an amount, rate and term, and the industries page sets contractors beside other trades in the county.
Financing Companies for Contractors: What a Funding Partner Can Look At
Financing companies for contractors can look at several records before making their own call. Gathering them ahead of the call saves a second round of requests, and it shows a partner how the jobs, the machines and the cash fit together:
- Business bank statements for recent months.
- The latest business tax returns.
- A job list with contract amounts and the draw schedule for each.
- An accounts receivable aging report.
- An equipment list with the year, make and model of each machine.
- A list of current debts and the dealer quote for any new machine.
For the one-person contractor, the 2024 Nonemployer Statistics count for the county’s construction sector was 320 businesses without paid employees. Doing business in the county is covered on the Columbus, NE page.
Three articles go further for builders: funding material orders on large bids, the documents to gather before applying and, for shops that fabricate for contractors, financing a production line or used machinery.
By Limepeak Finance · Updated
