Contractor financing pays for the equipment, payroll and materials construction firms carry between bids, draws and final payment. Swiftstead Commercial Capital, a small-business funding broker in St. Cloud, Minnesota, helps Stearns County contractors, 540 employer establishments in 2023 (Census CBP), choose a structure and introduces requests to lending partners, who decide and set rates and terms.
| Stearns County employers | 540 construction establishments (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Specialty trades | 345 establishments, 70.4% under five employees |
| No-payroll construction firms | 1,118 (NES 2024) |
| New housing units permitted | 618 (2023), 572 (2024), 648 (2025), Census BPS |
| Common structures | Equipment financing, revolving lines, working capital loans |
| Who decides | A lending partner |
Construction in Stearns County, MN
Stearns County had 540 construction employer establishments in 2023, with 7,054 paid employees and about $653.1 million in annual payroll; 372 of them, 68.9 percent, had fewer than five employees (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023).
| Subsector (NAICS) | Establishments | Paid employees | Under 5 employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction of buildings (236) | 150 | 1,028 | 70.0% |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 345 | 2,347 | 70.4% |
| All construction (23) | 540 | 7,054 | 68.9% |
Specialty trades, the electricians, plumbers, framers, roofers and concrete crews, make up most of the count. A separate survey found 1,118 construction businesses with no paid employees in 2024, 776 of them in the specialty trades (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). Those owner-operators are counted apart from employers and are not added to the figures above.
What the permit counts show
Stearns County authorized 618 new privately owned housing units in 2023, 572 in 2024 and 648 in 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey). In 2025, 371 of those units were single-family homes and 253 were in buildings of five or more units. Single-family work suits small crews; multi-unit projects bring longer schedules, larger draws and longer waits between paying for a phase and being paid for it. These are residential counts only; commercial work is not included.
The four needs behind most contractor requests
- Payroll between draws. Crews are paid weekly; owners and general contractors pay on a schedule that may run 30 days or more after a pay application.
- Materials up front. Lumber, wire, pipe and concrete are bought before the phase is billed.
- Machines. Excavators, skid steers, compact track loaders, lifts and trailers that cost more than a month's revenue.
- A second crew. Taking on more work means hiring and equipping before the new jobs pay.
Each need has a structure. Payroll gaps fit working capital or a credit line; materials fit a credit line; machines fit equipment financing; a second crew may fit a term loan.
A line of credit for a general contractor
A general contractor juggling several jobs at different stages rarely has one clean gap. A revolving line lets you draw for materials on one job while a draw on another is pending, then pay down as each owner pays. Partners usually size a contractor's line from receivables and contract backlog, and they will ask about retainage, the share of each payment an owner holds back until completion, because retained money is earned but not yet collectable.
Working capital for one large job
A working capital loan suits a single, defined gap: mobilizing for one large contract, or carrying payroll through a long first billing cycle. Before you ask, map the job's cash week by week: what goes out, when the first pay application is submitted and when it is likely to be paid. Our post on funding payroll on a new contract works through that calendar step by step.
Financing heavy equipment
For a machine you will use every week, financing usually beats renting over time; for a machine you need for one job, renting may be cheaper. Equipment financing uses the machine as collateral, which can make it easier to arrange than unsecured funding. Used machines can be financed, though partners may limit age or hours. Price a machine first with the heavy equipment loan calculator, which shows the monthly payment, total interest and total cost including the down payment.
From owner-operator to first employee
Stearns County counted 776 specialty trade businesses with no paid employees in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024), separately from its 345 specialty trade employers in 2023. The step from working alone to running a crew is where funding questions start: the first employee turns payroll into a fixed weekly bill, and the first larger job brings a materials order bigger than the bank balance. Map both before you hire.
How partners look at contractors
- Signed contracts and the backlog still to be built.
- A receivables aging list showing who owes what and for how long.
- Work-in-progress figures for larger firms: costs to date against billings to date.
- Bank statements and existing equipment payments.
- Liens already filed against equipment or receivables.
Partners decide every request and set every term. Swiftstead Commercial Capital introduces the request and helps you compare offers.
Local context
Construction is the largest sector in several nearby ZIP codes, including ZIP 56379 around Sauk Rapids and ZIP 56374 around St. Joseph (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). For the full county picture see Stearns County business counts, and for the other confirmed sectors, the sector overview. Our post on getting funding for a construction business in St. Cloud, MN covers preparation in more detail.
By Swiftstead Commercial Capital ยท Updated